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
Former West End resident in the 1940's and 50's
In this interview Sylvia Perlmutter Kaye, a former resident of the West End, recalls her days in Coney Island sledding down Boardwalk ramps in winter, smoking with the Vargas Girls, scrounging for free tickets at Steeplechase and watching her uncle...
Content type: Oral History Item
Took the 13th Ave. trolley
Dave Galler grew up at 72nd Street and 12th Avenue in an area known as Dyker Beach, between Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in the 1940's. He still remembers the details of the train and trolley routes he took to get to Coney Island. The...
Content type: Oral History Item
Memories of Tunnels of Love ride operator John Kavakos
Neal recalls his father, John Kavakos, a "street urchin" from Greece who came to Coney Island and built the Tunnels of Love at the Bowery and 12th Street. The attraction consisted of a serene boat ride that took passengers past various...
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
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
Queen of Coney Island
Janet Panetta's family had a locker at the Steeplechase Park Bathhouse in the 1950's. She and her sister were set loose to play in the pool and around the park. One summer, Janet contracted polio and remembers being called the Queen of...
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 visiting Coney in the 1950's
Maria recalls visiting Coney Island in the 1950's as a child with her parents. They used to rent all of their beach gear from a bathhouse and then get cleaned up again to take in amusements such as Steeplechase Park. Her mother was too afraid...
Content type: Oral History Item
Son of Richard Carillo, Concession Owner
Nicholas Carrillo's father Richard emigrated from Italy and moved to Coney Island in the late 1940's. He introduced a bowling game and Skee Ball to Coney Island. He also used to repair the intricate Sodamat machine, brought to Coney...
Content type: Oral History Item