Coney Island Stories
Coney Island Stories is a podcast produced from oral histories in the Coney Island History Project archive. We record interviews in English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and other languages with people who have lived or worked in Coney Island and adjacent neighborhoods or have a special connection to these places. Founded in 2004, the History Project is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that aims to increase awareness of Coney Island's legendary and colorful past and to encourage appreciation of the Coney Island neighborhood of today. You can search and listen online to over 375 oral history interviews in our archive: https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history-archive
Episodes
20 episodes
Growing Up in the 2000s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode Eight, the final episode of this season, we’re sharing the stories of narrators who grew up in Coney Island or came here from...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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31:37
Growing Up in the 1990s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode Seven, narrators who grew up here in the 1990s share stories of loss and change. They remember living in Gravesend Houses and...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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30:40
Growing Up in the 1980s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode Six, Narrators who grew up here in the 1980s, or grew up coming to Coney Island from nearby neighborhoods, share their storie...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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34:53
Growing Up in the 1970s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode Five, Coney Islanders who grew up in the 1970s share memories of being the original tenants of Carey Gardens and O’Dwyer Gard...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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38:31
Growing Up in the 1960s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode Four, Coney Islanders who grew up in the 1960s share memories of being the original tenants at Luna Park Houses and Trump Vil...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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34:03
Growing Up in the 1950s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode Three, Coney Islanders who grew up in the ‘50s lived in apartments and over stores on Mermaid Avenue and its side streets. Mo...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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31:11
Growing Up in the 1940s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. Episode Two, “Growing Up in the 1940s,” features the oral histories of Steve Burke, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Phil Einhorn, Deena M...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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33:46
Growing Up in the 1930s
Season Two’s theme is “Growing Up in Coney Island” through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. In Episode One, Coney Islanders who grew up in the ‘30s recall hardships as well as simple pleasures. During the Depression, families fr...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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34:02
Season Two Trailer: Growing Up in Coney Island
The Coney Island History Project launches Season Two of our oral history podcast Coney Island Stories on Tuesday, March 8th! This season’s theme is ‘Growing up in Coney Island’ through the decades, from the 1930s to the 21st century. Listen and...
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Season 2
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Episode 0
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1:50
Schools of Their Own
Episode 11 shares the stories of four dedicated and innovative teachers who founded schools of their own in Coney Island and adjacent neighborhoods in Southern Brooklyn. April Leong in the award-winning founder and principal of Liberation Diplo...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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29:39
Sign Painters and Artists
Episode 10 shares the stories of Coney Island sign painters as well as artists and designers who’ve been inspired by Coney’s celebrated signage, all taken from the Coney Island History Project’s Oral History Archive. The Coney Island style of h...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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29:47
Love and Marriage
Episode 9 features the stories of couples who met, got engaged or married in Coney Island, all taken from the History Project’s oral history archive. Visitors to our exhibition center often tell us that they or their parents or grandparents met...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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31:18
Beach Days
On Memorial Day Weekend, lifeguards will once again be perched in their towers and New York City will celebrate the reopening of Coney Island's beach for swimming. Episode 8 shares the stories of days at the beach from the 1920s through the 199...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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27:45
Staying in the Game
Episode 7 features the stories of independent game operators, past and present, from the Coney Island History Project Oral History Archive. Among the games that Peter Agrapides, Monica Ghee, Candi Rafael, and Eliot Wofse have operated over the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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25:04
A Century of Bathhouses
Episode 6 features the stories of bathhouse owners, workers and patrons from the Coney Island History Project’s oral history archive. Bathhouses were the first businesses in Coney Island. Even before Coney’s first hotel was built in 1829, crude...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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28:24
Legendary Roller Coasters
Episode 5 features the stories of a trio of roller coasters built in the Roaring 20’s and named after violent storms: the Thunderbolt, the Tornado and the Cyclone. While the Cyclone is the only survivor from Coney's golden age, the Coney Island...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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28:18
Mermaid Avenue
Episode 4 features the oral histories of Mermaid Avenue’s mom and pop businesses founded by immigrants, past and present. Interviews with Steven Feinstein, (Wilensky Hardware), Charles Guariglia (Mermaid Avenue bread route in the 1950's...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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23:56
Artists at Work
Episode 3 features the oral histories of artists from Jamaica, Japan, Russia, and China who found a place they could call home in Coney Island and neighboring Gravesend and Brighton Beach.Interviews with Hector George Wallace, Takeshi Ya...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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28:38
