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
Fond memories of Coney Island
Joseph Svehlak recalls two generations of stories from Coney Island. His mother grew up in lower Manhattan as a first generation American born to European parents in the early 1910’s. On Sundays after church, her father would take her and her sister...
Content type: Oral History Item
Mr. Cyclone 2010
Joshua, posed here with Miss Cyclone Angie Pontani, took a break from his busy schedule the day he was voted Mr. Cyclone 2010 to talk with us at the History Project. He explains the highlights of the competition and some of the things he'll...
Content type: Oral History Item
Fan of the Cyclone and the Cyclones
Rob explains why the Cyclone is the best roller coaster he's ever ridden. A regular visitor to Coney Island, he talks about coming out from his home in Long Island to concerts, amusements and Cyclones baseball games.
Content type: Oral History Item
Bringing the 1960's back to Coney Island
Ron recalls going with both friends and family to Coney Island back in the 1960's. His family always took the same spot on the beach in front of the Wonder Wheel. He remembers amusement rides from that time in great detail, but waited until his...
Content type: Oral History Item
Coney Island Cyclone coaster marathoner
Avid roller coaster rider Bill Galvin recounts the time he wore a dress to participate in a women's marathon on the Cyclone roller coaster in 1997.
Content type: Oral History Item
Model Maker and Music Producer
Roy grew up in Coney Island and, among many other ventures, makes exquisitely detailed scale models of rides like the Himalaya, at which he also worked when he was a child. He tried to get a job at Astroland when he was too young but, eventually,...
Content type: Oral History Item
Resident of Coney Island in the 1940's
Lorraine Reitman Gorelick grew up in Coney Island in the 1940's. In this interview she recalls drumming up business for her family's rental locker business, as well as her first ride on the Cyclone... at age 3!
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
Mr. Cyclone hopeful
Robby Corrado is a 2010 Mr. Cyclone contestant. His father brought him to Coney Island to celebrate his seventh birthday and inadvertently sparked a love for the Cyclone that has grown over the years. Robby talks about the inspiration for his...
Content type: Oral History Item