Oral History Archive

Carmela
Growing up on West 16th Street between Mermaid and Neptune in a cold water flat in the 1940s and '50s
Mindy Gress
Memories of growing up on Coney Island's first block and working in the Cyclone photobooth's darkroom
Lisa Marie Pompilio
Horses, hot type, tattoos, sideshows, and graphic design
Ralph Avella
Memories of working on the Coney Island Parachute Jump's operation crew at age 16
Ron Vernon
Lifelong stickball player and Coney Island lifeguard for 48 years
Abby Jordan
Growing up Latina in Brighton Beach with a special connection to nature and the ocean
Kai Fung
Homeowner in Coney Island's West End for almost 30 years and first member of his family to settle here
Bill Zeidenberg
Memories of growing up on Brighton First Court and a summer job renting beach chairs in Coney Island
Lou Nasti
Mechanical display creator who redid the tricks for Astroland's Dante's Inferno dark ride in the 1990s
Hawley Hussey
Sea Gate artist, writer, educator and year-round swimmer
Steeplechase Pier Fishermen
Harry Delgado, "Stretch," and Larye Mcsheppard share fishing stories
Edith Storch
Memories of growing up on West 36th Street in Coney Island's West End
Billy Blitzer
Longtime baseball scout for the Chicago Cubs and Sea Gate resident
Stephen Gaffney
Artist and educator who restored the old signs and painted new ones for Paul's Daughter
Boris Ioselev
Librarian and exhibit curator at Coney Island Library emigrated from St. Petersburg nearly 30 years ago
Sam Moses
Sign-painting legend, musician and Sea Gate resident
Gloria Nicholson
Memories of growing up in a Jones Walk rooming house in 1940s Coney Island
Van Milana
Grandson of sword swallower Joseph "Ajax" Milana and DeWise Purdin "The Handless Sharpshooter"