At age 103, Coney Island resident shares her memories and secrets to a long and happy life
Born in 1920, Jeanette Bigelson grew up at 62 Cannon Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan when it was a neighborhood of working-class immigrants. She shares memories of her mother's homemade challah and noodles; friendly neighbors who kept...
Content type: Oral History Item
Twenty years at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park's Karaoke on the Boardwalk
Ronald Kannatt, who is affectionately known as "The Prince of Coney Island," has been singing and dancing at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park's Karaoke on the Boardwalk for the past 20 years. His signature song is Prince's "Jungle Love." Kannatt shares...
Content type: Oral History Item
Architect who is a Coney Island resident and a community activist
Angela Kravtchenko is an architect, a resident of Coney Island, a community activist, and a new member of Community Board 13. She describes how she and her family chose to live in Coney Island after emigrating from Ukraine in the 1990s and living in...
Content type: Oral History Item
A longtime resident of Haber Houses and leader of the Russian-speaking community
This interview was conducted and recorded in Russian. Read Julia Kanin's Russian transcript and English translation below. Интервью проведено и записано на русском языке. Вы можете ознакомиться с траснскриптом и переводом Юлии Ханиной ниже.
Sofya...
Content type: Oral History Item
Reflections on raising a family and working in Coney Island in the 1990s and 2000s
Sonia Solano reflects on living in Coney Island with her husband since the 1990s, raising their children here, and working in local schools. She remembers happy times and difficult times, including the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. "Coney Island...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of living in Luna Park Houses and going to Coney Island bathhouses in the 1960s
Karen Wilcox and her family were among the original tenants of Luna Park Houses, moving there from the East New York section of Brooklyn in 1962. "We were the first family to live in Apt 15M in Building 4," says Wilcox, who was 11 at the time. "Then...
Content type: Oral History Item
Tattoo artist who grew up in Coney Island's West End
Samantha Robles, a tattoo artist who is known as "Cake," shares childhood memories of growing up in Coney Island's West End and describes her artistic influences. Three generations of Robles' extended family have lived in Coney's "Coconuts Building...
Content type: Oral History Item
Teen memories of Coney Island's Polar Express and Breakdance in the 2000s
As a teenager in the 2000s, Alicia Angello lived in Marlboro Houses in Gravesend, which was walking distance to Coney Island. She shares memories of coming here with her friends every Friday night and sometimes every day in the summer. The Polar...
Content type: Oral History Item
Director of United Chinese Association of Brooklyn in Bensonhurt, Dyker Heights, and Sheepshead Bay
This interview was conducted and recorded in Cantonese Chinese. Read Xiao Yu Li's transcript and translation below.
本采访以粤语进行并记录。阅读下面的Xiao Yu Li的笔录和翻译。
Ansen Tang is Executive Director of the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn (UCAOB) with...
Content type: Oral History Item
Record producer and audio engineer who produces live shows at Coney Island Brewery
"The" Jerry Farley is a record producer and audio engineer who has produced shows in Coney Island at Peggy O'Neills and now at Coney Island Brewery, where he stages a monthly punk/metal night and other live events. Born in Dyker Heights in 1978, as...
Content type: Oral History Item