Oral History Archive

Ahmed Hussain
Memories of a boyhood helping out in his family's store in Coney Island and learning to play pinball
Rob Weissbard
Milton Berger's nephew describes adventures at Steeplechase Park with Coney's great showman
Mr. Luong
Coney Island homeowner recalls fleeing Vietnam with his family in 1981 and settling in New York City
Ho Cheung Li
Mermaid Avenue pharmacist dispenses news and advice to new immigrants
Beth Allen
Beth Allen recounts her origins as an "incubator baby" in Dr. Martin Couney's sideshow
Jeff Brooks and Monica Ghee
Jeff was given less than a year to live. Monica donated a kidney and saved his life.
Eric Sanchez
Growing up in Coney Island and Gravesend in the 1990s and 2000s
Randy Kasper
Memories of living in the newly opened Luna Park Houses in the 1960s
Orlando Mendez
Growing up in Coney Island in the 1970s and being the third generation of his family to live here today
Alison Cintorrino
Memories of growing up in Luna Park Houses in the 1960s and 1970s
Alan Kirschenbaum
Memories of growing up in Coney Island Houses in the 1950s and early '60s
Sharon Tera
Sharon Tera's family operated Ethel's Restaurant on the Boardwalk in the 1940s and '50s
Carol Barry
Memories of living in the newly opened Luna Park Houses in the 1960s
Carlos Quinones
Memories of placing the Puerto Rican flag atop the Parachute Jump and driving the Mermaid Avenue bus
Jane McNeive Ennis
Memories of Ocean Tide Baths and Coney Island
Tymell Murphy
Professional basketball player and author of a book of poems and stories who grew up in Coney Island
Mark St Leon
Australian circus historian whose family performed at Coney Island's Luna Park in the early 1900s
Maria Schwab
Growing up in Gravesend and going to Coney Island in the 1960s and living there today