Memories of growing up on West 29th Street and meeting her lifeguard husband on Coney Island Beach
Ellen Abrams' earliest memory is sitting in a wicker carriage and being taken for a stroll on the boardwalk by her mother and grandmother. Growing up in Coney Island in the 1940s and '50s, Ellen enjoyed birthday parties every July on the beach and ...
Content type: Oral History Item
Trolley (Brooklyn & Queens Transit 8090) on Sea Gate line (Surf Avenue) in West End. Half Moon Hotel is visible in background.
Content type: Collection Item
Collection type: Documentary photograph
Looking north east from Boardwalk to the newly built Half Moon Hotel. In the foreground McLochlin's West End baths (a bathhouse).
"The one structure that defined the New Coney Island more than anything elese was the Half Moon Hotel... Described as...
Content type: Collection Item
Collection type: Documentary photograph
Lived in Coney Island during the 50's
In the 1950s, Gene and his older brother lived in Coney Island. Gene has vivid memories of Steeplechase Park, the Wonder Wheel and his favorite ride, the Bobsled. He recalls his brother selling Good Humor ice cream on the beach, charging double or...
Content type: Oral History Item
Lincoln HS graduate and former West End resident in the 1940's and 50's
Leibowitz grew up in the West End on West 30th Street between Surf and Railroad Avenues in the 1940's and 50's. In this interview he recalls his many jobs in the amusement area, cruising the neighborhood with Bowery Boy Huntz Hall and...
Content type: Oral History Item
Grandson of Coney Island Developer William J. Ward
Jack Ward recounts his family’s long history in Coney Island. He begins with his great grandfather John Ward's purchase of beachfront property at 12th Street and Surf Avenue in 1879 and continues through his grandfather William J. Ward's...
Content type: Oral History Item
Son of West End and Sea Gate shopkeepers in the 1940's and 50's
Fogel grew up in Coney Island's West End and Sea Gate in the 1940's and 50's, attending PS 80 and PS 188. His parents ran several shops in the West End, providing him with an interesting perspective on life in the bungalow colonies...
Content type: Oral History Item
Lived in Coney Island from 1938 thru early 1950's
Harry spent his formative years in Coney Island and has many memories of the sights and sounds from his youth. Before being drafted into the military during the Korean War, he had various part-time jobs including a stint at Silver's Bathhouse...
Content type: Oral History Item
Grew up in Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s
Born in 1928, Phil enthusiastically searches his memory for every last detail available to him about growing up in Coney Island. He remembers the Railroad Avenue Trolley "four rides for a dime," pool halls, two murders, black-out curtains...
Content type: Oral History Item
Crowds on Beach at Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island, N.Y.
Description on back of postcard reads:
"The beautiful beach at Coney Island is now long enough and wide enough to accommodate almost the entire population of New York at one time. There are...
Content type: Collection Item
Collection type: Postcard