In 2023, Angbeen Saleem, who grew up in Pennsylvania riding roller coasters at Knoebels and Six Flags Great Adventure, made it her weekly ritual to ride the Coney Island Cyclone. "I just told myself that this is something I would do every week and...
Content type: Oral History Item
Josh Wolfe shares memories of growing up in Coney Island in the 1980s and early '90s, including passing under the boardwalk to go to the beach, getting fired from his first job as a teen, attending Mark Twain for junior high, and riding the Cyclone...
Content type: Oral History Item
Irwin Temkin shares stories of growing up in the West End of Coney Island in the 1950s and '60s. His family lived on Polar Street, later moved to his grandmother's house on West 31st Street, and finally to an apartment in O'Dwyer Gardens on West...
Content type: Oral History Item
Born in 1930 in Coney Island, Frieda Schwelke and her family lived on West 36th, West 29th, and West 32nd Streets. In February 1962, she moved with her husband and son to Luna Park Houses when it first opened, and lived there through 1970. Schwelke...
Content type: Oral History Item
Randy Kasper and her family were original tenants of Luna Park Houses' Building 5, Apartment 19K. They lived in the newly opened high-rise housing complex from 1962, when she was five, until 1968. She shares memories of windows facing the ocean and...
Content type: Oral History Item
Alison Cintorrino and her family were original tenants of Luna Park Houses. Born in 1962, she was brought to Luna Park from the hospital as a newborn and lived there for 25 years. Her 86-year-old mother still lives in Luna Park Houses today....
Content type: Oral History Item
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
Tara Altebrando is a native New Yorker who rediscovered what a magical place Coney Island was when she was in her 20's. The author of 11 novels, she says her favorite is Dreamland Social Club, which is set in Coney Island and was published in 2011...
Content type: Oral History Item
Roller coaster enthusiast John Hunt has been building scale models of coasters and amusement park attractions since he was a boy and has turned his hobby into a business. More than 50 different custom-built rides are on view and may be ordered via...
Content type: Oral History Item
Michael Liff recalls growing up in Coney Island across the street from the New York Aquarium and working in the amusement area as a teen in the 1970's. His first job was taking plush animals by handcart from the Surf Avenue warehouse of Harry ...
Content type: Oral History Item