O'Dwyer Gardens

Author of two books about Coney Island basketball
Delbert Prince is the author of two books tracing the history of Coney Island basketball and what the sport meant to the community.  Prince grew up in Coney Island and played ball on all the local courts. His detailed personal history includes the...
Content type: Oral History Item
Growing up in Coney Island and how learning French at Lincoln High School influenced his life
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
Growing up in Coney Island in the 1970s and being the third generation of his family to live here today
Orlando Mendez moved from Hell’s Kitchen to Coney Island as a toddler and lived with his extended family in a series of apartments on West 16th, West 20th, and West 29th Streets. In 1969, Mendez and his father and brother moved into Carey Gardens, a...
Content type: Oral History Item
A poet and storyteller on growing up in Coney Island at Gravesend Houses, the beach and Astroland
Coney Island native Shavon Meyers is a photographer, visual artist, and storyteller who began writing poetry in 8th grade and realized her gift for rhyme with a poem about riding the D train.  Shavon shares childhood memories of growing up in...
Content type: Oral History Item
Tapestry artist and Coney Island resident whose work is inspired by his native Baku and New York City
This interview was conducted and recorded in Russian. Read Julia Kanin's transcript and translation below. Интервью проведено и записано на русском языке. Вы можете ознакомиться с траснскриптом и переводом Юлии Ханиной ниже. Artist Leonid Alaverdov...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of growing up in Coney Island in the 1980s and '90s and Faber's Fascination Arcade
Jeffrey L. Wilson is a Senior Software Analyst at PC Magazine, where he writes about video games, mobile apps, and other tech subjects. He shares memories of growing up in Coney Island, where his family moved to O'Dwyer Gardens from Flatbush in 1986...
Content type: Oral History Item