Oral History Archive

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"

Hyeyoung Kim and Michael Cooper

Composer and lyricist of Luna Park, a musical, on chronicling the partnership of Thompson and Dundy