"The Elvis of the East" and founder of Brooklyn Chinese-American Assn. Chorus
Cornel Chan (陳均能) immigrated to the US in 1972 from Hong Kong, where he enjoyed a successful career as “The Elvis of the East” singing American songs on radio, TV and in clubs. With younger singers from abroad gaining popularity and his young sons’...
Content type: Oral History Item
Remembers Astroland Rocket
Louis has fond memories of riding Astroland's one-of-a-kind Rocket simulator, the very first ride to arrive at the space-age themed park in 1962. On January 28, 2009, Louis, who works at the Aquarium, was excited to see the 71-foot Rocket on a...
Content type: Oral History Item
Roller coaster aficionado
Bobby talks about being a young "urban explorer" in the 70's when Coney Island was "dirty and scary and rough" but still alluring. He remembers many of the attractions that no longer exist in Coney Island such as the bobsled...
Content type: Oral History Item
Artist and photographer
Lily Binder has photographed Coney Island extensively since her first visit in the 1970s. She claims that "The Cyclone is the most physically and mentally cleansing minute of your life because you can't think. It's pure adrenaline......
Content type: Oral History Item
Coney Island businessman and neighborhood activist
Lou Powsner, a former Coney Island businessman and neighborhood activist remembers his fond and not so fond memories of working in Coney Island. Jennifer Snow, his grand-daughter, talks about the future of Coney Island and having a grandfather who...
Content type: Oral History Item
Began his career as a sign painter in Coney Island
John Rea is currently an advertising professional and adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, but he began his career as a young teenager working for his father, also John Rea, in the Peluso Machine and Iron Works shop in Coney...
Content type: Oral History Item
A painter with a Coney Island legacy
Marie Roberts hails from an illustrious Coney Island family. Her grandfather was the Acting Battalion Chief of the Coney Island district and fought some of the most notable fires in Brooklyn history including the Dreamland fire of 1911 that burned...
Content type: Oral History Item
Founder of the Sea Gate Historical Society
Pete Spanakos first became familiar with Coney Island in the 1950's when he worked cleaning the beaches. In 1967, he moved into an historic home in Sea Gate built by Chrysler Building architect William Van Alen. Spanakos has a Golden Glove...
Content type: Oral History Item
Fan of the new Luna Park
Mi Won has been visiting Coney Island since her parents brought her as a little girl in the 1970's. Today, she is a teacher in Queens who enjoys amusement rides as much as her students do. She and her sister paid their first visit to the new...
Content type: Oral History Item
High school sweethearts from Coney Island
Sherri and Harold Kaufman grew up together in Coney Island and were sweethearts at Lincoln High School. They have been married for forty years now and live in Massachusetts, but they still return occasionally to visit their old home. Harold worked...
Content type: Oral History Item