An adventuresome youth in Coney Island
Naomi Starss shares this story from her youth about getting in trouble with the police for panhandling with a girlfriend in Coney Island when they were fourteen years old. She describes how they made friends with a good-looking policeman who...
Content type: Oral History Item
First in line for a ride on the Cyclone
Erik Knapp of the rock band Mystical Children arrives in the middle of the night to be the first person in line to ride the Cyclone on opening day. He shows off his fresh tattoo of the ride's top hill.
Content type: Oral History Item
Worked at the RKO Tilyou Theater
John Landi worked as the house electrician for the RKO Tilyou Theater in the early 1960's when the Tilyou family still operated the theater. He was 19 years old when he started the job and stayed for two or three years. John describes his...
Content type: Oral History Item
Incubator baby
Roslyn Tromer was one of Dr. Couney's "incubator babies". Dr. Martin A. Couney was a neonatologist during the early part of the 20th century who saved many premature infants through the use of incubators. In order to increase...
Content type: Oral History Item
Lived in Coney Island since 1961
Dorothy moved to Coney Island in 1961 from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. She has also lived in Brighton Beach and Ocean Parkway and remembers "the west side" near Seabreeze Park (now known as Asser Levy Park). She...
Content type: Oral History Item
Photographing his Coney Island neighborhood for 50 years
Abe Feinstein moved with his wife and children to Luna Park Houses in 1962 and lived there for 31 years. Working at a camera store, he could get discounts on film and processing, which enabled him to take as many photos as he wished. He had a habit...
Content type: Oral History Item
Actor, performer, artist, teacher
Glenn has lived in Coney Island all his life and, concurrent with the interview, performed on the boardwalk on weekends. He passionately recounts many detailed memories, including the Tuesday fireworks, the First Baptist Church, the YMCA, the movie...
Content type: Oral History Item
Photographer who worked on a city ambulance for Coney Island Hospital in the late 1970's
Steve started his career in 1975 at age 19 as an EMS ambulance technician for Coney Island Hospital. He shares some of the memorable calls from his midnight shifts through much of the late 70's. Today, Steve is a published photographer who has...
Content type: Oral History Item
Avid weekender in Coney Island
Pat Lingenbach recalls her weekend visits to Coney Island as a child and teenager growing up in Riverdale, New York in the 1930's and 40's. Pat's mother was friends with Evelyn Mangels and according to Pat, Evelyn played matchmaker...
Content type: Oral History Item
Co-founder of the Brooklyn newspaper The Phoenix remembers living in Coney Island in the 1960s
Dnynia Armstrong, co-founder of the Phoenix newspaper in Brooklyn, recalls living in a Coney Island cottage during the 1960's. She speaks of gossipy neighbors, eccentric beach people and the condemnation of Coney Island buildings during the...
Content type: Oral History Item