Coney Island resident Georganna Deas has spent forty years advocating for a better Coney Island
Economic development specialist Georganna Deas is a Coney Island resident and advocate who has lived in the Gravesend Houses on Kaiser Park for forty years. After moving here in 1977, she worked with Coney Island Pride and then with Astella...
Content type: Oral History Item
Mother and son remember the Laughing Lady at Coney's Magic Carpet Fun House
Taty Alicea and her son Ralph Alicea share fond memories of Coney Island's famous Laughing Lady, a popular mechanical attraction that was part of the Magic Carpet Fun House and is greatly missed. "Wherever Matilda is, she's not home," says Ralph....
Content type: Oral History Item
Twenty years as part of the family at Gregory & Paul's and Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk
Gabriel Valencia has worked on the Coney Island Boardwalk at Gregory & Paul's eatery, now called Paul's Daughter, for 20 years. He came to New York from Puebla, Mexico when he was just 18 to join his brother. Valencia learned English little by...
Content type: Oral History Item
Ukrainian emigre writer and author of Stealing Cherries, a collection of flash fiction
Marina Rubin, the author of Stealing Cherries (2013), reads excerpts from her book of flash fiction, and talks about storytelling, poetry and the Russian Jewish immigrant experience. Born in the small town of Vinnitsa, Ukraine, she immigrated to the...
Content type: Oral History Item
Founder and head coach at New York Fencing Academy in Coney Island
Misha Mokretsov, 30, is head coach and owner of the New York Fencing Academy on West 12th Street in Coney Island. He first came to the U.S. in 2006, on an academic/athletic scholarship to St. John’s University, where he was captain of the fencing...
Content type: Oral History Item
New Year's Day greetings and Coney Island memories recorded at Deno's Wonder Wheel
On January 1st, 2016, the Vourderis family opened Deno's Wonder Wheel on New Year's Day for the first time in the landmark's 95 year history. The Coney Island History Project was on hand to record New Year's greetings from the Wonder Wheel for our...
Content type: Oral History Item
A Coney Island Polar Bear talks about the health benefits and natural high of winter swimming
"Trust me, try it one day, you're going to like it," says Abiodun "Abi" Bello, who has been swimming in cold water as a member of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club since 2010. A native of Lagos, Nigeria, he first came to the U.S to study accounting...
Content type: Oral History Item
Jamaican-born chef at Footprints Caribbean Cafe in Coney Island and originator of Rasta Pasta
Basil Jones is the chef at Footprints Cafe in Coney Island, which specializes in Caribbean cuisine, and is the originator of their famed Rasta Pasta. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in St. Ann's Bay, Jones first learned to cook as a boy...
Content type: Oral History Item
Coney Island resident who moved here as a high school student talks about her neighborhood
Coney Island resident Theresa Giovinni moved here from Williamsburg as a high school student. When a class assignment to research the history of her neighborhood came up, she chose Coney and learned about Luna Park, Dreamland, and Steeplechase Park...
Content type: Oral History Item
5D Cinema entrepreneur on Coney Island's Bowery
For the Coney Island History Project's first-ever "on-ride" oral history, interviewer Samira Tazari mixed recordings of her ride on the Bowery's 5D Cinema and an interview with the indie attraction's owner Terry Zheng. Known as "Tommy" to his...
Content type: Oral History Item