Memories of growing up in Coney Island Houses in the 1950s and early '60s
Alan Kirschenbaum grew up in Coney Island Houses, where he was among the original tenants of Coney’s first superblock high-rise housing project. "Growing up in Coney Island Houses and in Coney Island was a really wonderful experience" he says. "And...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of living in the newly opened Luna Park Houses in the 1960s
Carol Barry and her family were original tenants of Luna Park Houses. They moved to the newly opened high-rise housing complex in 1961 from a tenement on West 30th Street in Coney Island. She shares memories of living at Luna Park from age 15 until...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of placing the Puerto Rican flag atop the Parachute Jump and driving the Mermaid Avenue bus
Carlos Quinones, 72, is a longtime Coney Island resident who’s well known for his collection of classic cars. He is a Vietnam War veteran and a retired MTA employee who drove the Mermaid Avenue bus for many years. In this interview he clears up the...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of Ocean Tide Baths and Coney Island
Jane McNeive Ennis, 91, grew up in Bay Ridge and recalls going to Ocean Tide Baths as a teenager in the 1940s. She has fond memories of renting a season locker at Ocean Tide with three girlfriends and painting and decorating the locker which was the...
Content type: Oral History Item
Australian circus historian whose family performed at Coney Island's Luna Park in the early 1900s
Mark St Leon is an Australian circus historian whose family performed in Coney Island at Thompson and Dundy's Luna Park in the early 1900s. The St Leon troupe of bareback riders, acrobats and tightwire artists who came to the U.S. was led by his...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of growing up in Brighton Beach in the 1950s and '60s
Rena Stutman Rice shares stories of growing up in Brighton Beach in the 1950s and 60s. Born in 1946, she lived on Brightwater Court and later on Ocean Parkway. A clip from her father's home movie of her as a baby appears in the documentary The Boys...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of living in Luna Park Houses in the 1960s and '70s
Arlene Oken Straus shares memories of living in Luna Park Houses as a teen in the 1960s and as a young wife and mother in the 1970s. Her family moved to the Mitchell Lama co-op from the Bronx and was among the original tenants in 1962. The complex...
Content type: Oral History Item
Growing up in Coney Island as a teenager in the 1960s and '70s
Tony Williams and his family moved from Harlem to Coney Island when he was 13. He lived on West 33rd Street between Mermaid and Neptune Avenues from 1966 until the late 1970s. Tall for his age (he was 6'2"), Tony was hired to operate rides in the...
Content type: Oral History Item
The Roller Coaster Reverend shares stories of Cyclone weddings
After Reverend Cliff Herring married a couple on Coney Island’s Cyclone roller coaster, the NY Daily News called him “the Roller Coaster Reverend” and “a card carrying member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts.” Reverend Herring is member #18 in a...
Content type: Oral History Item
Coney Island native and longtime independent game operator on Jones Walk
Monica Ghee is a Coney Island native who has operated games at various locations in the amusement district on and off for the past 52 years. She recalls some of the games she has worked in the past, including the dime pitch, glass pitch, goldfish...
Content type: Oral History Item