You’re invited to visit the Coney Island History Project‘s exhibition center on Coney’s traditional opening day, Palm Sunday, April 10, and on Easter Sunday, April 17. We’ll be open special hours–1:00PM-6:00PM. Admission is free of charge. View historic artifacts, photographs, maps, ephemera and films of Coney Island’s colorful past as well as banners previewing their special exhibitions for the 2022 season.
Remembering Astroland: 60th Anniversary (May 28 – September 5, 2022)Space-age-themed Astroland Park opened in the summer of 1962 on the site of Feltman’s Restaurant. After the closure of Steeplechase in 1964, Astroland became an anchor that helped keep Coney vibrant until its closure nearly half a century later. We celebrate this anniversary with a selection of historic images from their archive.
Barbara Rosenberg’s Coney Island Photos (May 28 – September 5, 2022)Street photographer Barbara Rosenberg documented Coney Island for 50 years. When Barbara died in 2016 she left her photographic work to the Coney Island History Project. We remember her with a selection of her work covering Steeplechase Park, the Polar Bear Club, and Boardwalk attractions from the 1970s. “I am always an observer,” she said, “the small gesture, the quiet mostly unobserved moments became my subject matter.”
Their exhibition center season begins Saturday, May 28. We’ll be open 1:00PM-7:00PM, weekends and holidays, from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day. This year marks the 18th anniversary of the Coney Island History Project and the 12th season at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. Since the inception in 2004 with a portable booth on the Boardwalk for recording oral history interviews, we have proudly offered “Free Admission for One and All!” at the exhibits and special events. The history banners will also be on display starting April 10 at Deno’s Wonder Wheel in the plaza below the Phoenix Roller Coaster.
On Palm Sunday (April 10), the Coney Island History Project will have an information booth on the Boardwalk in front of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. Deno’s opening day festivities start at 10:00AM on the Boardwalk with the 37th Annual Blessing of the Rides ceremony with Pastor Toyin Facus of Coney Island’s Salt and Sea Mission. Pastor Debbe Santiago originated the event with Denos and Lula Vourderis, who invited children from the Mission to enjoy free rides, a tradition that continues today. After the Blessing, the first 102 guests at the park will receive a free ride on the 102-year-old Deno’s Wonder Wheel.
“Growing Up in the 1940s,” the new episode of Coney Island Stories, was released this week.
The 1940s started out with the Parachute Jump moving to Steeplechase Park from the New York World’s Fair. Aerial photos of packed beaches became emblematic of the era. When the U.S. entered World War 2, dim-out regulations darkened Coney’s skyline to prevent its lights from silhouetting ships offshore and making them a target for German U-boats. In the 1942 and ’43 Mardi Gras parades, servicemen were showered with confetti and lions from Luna Park riding by in their cage were advertised as ready to meet Hitler.
In Episode 2, Coney Islanders who grew up during the war years recall seeing gun emplacements on the boardwalk and soldiers camped in Kaiser Park. Their households had blackout curtains, ration coupons and victory gardens. Some had summer jobs in the amusement area despite being underage. After the war, their families took in relatives and boarders who were refugees and survivors of the concentration camps.
The oral histories in the podcast are with Steve Burke, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Phil Einhorn, Deena Metzger, and Gloria Nicholson. The interviews were conducted by Charles Denson, Amanda Deutch, and Samira Tazari between 2009 and 2018. The podcast is produced by Charles Denson, Ali Lemer and Tricia Vita from oral histories in the Coney Island History Project’s online archive. Season Two of the podcast series is sponsored in part by Humanities New York with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
| Among the recent additions to the Coney Island History Project’s Oral History Archive are interviews with Rena Stutman Rice, who grew up in Brighton Beach, and Esther Delgado and her daughter Maria Schwab, who are lifelong residents of Gravesend.
Rena Stutman Rice shares stories of growing up in Brighton Beach, where she lived on Brightwater Court and later on Ocean Parkway. A clip from her father’s home movie of her as a baby appears in the documentary The Boys of 2nd Street Park. Among her memories of the 1950s and ’60s are playing in the park and going to Brighton’s Bay 3 and Bay 5 beaches. She also recalls her mother’s stories from the 1930s and stores and delis patronized by her family such as Mrs. Stahl’s Knishes and Zei-Mar Delicatessen. |
| Both Esther Delgado and her daughter Maria Schwab grew up in Gravesend in Delgado’s mother’s home where they still live today. Delgado (née Scarlino), 88, recalls the bungalow her maternal grandparents first rented in 1929 for $33 a month because they thought it was close enough to walk to Coney Island beach. Schwab shares stories of growing up in Gravesend in the 1960s when the neighborhood was predominantly Italian and the tradition of having dinner with the extended family kept the streets deserted and the stores closed on Sunday afternoons.
More than 400 oral histories are available for listening in the Coney Island History Project’s online archive. Please listen, share, and if you or someone you know would like to record a story via phone or Zoom, sign up here. We record oral histories in English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish and other languages with people who have lived or worked in Coney Island and nearby neighborhoods or have a special connection to these places. Were you and your family original tenants of Surfside Houses, O’Dwyer Gardens, Carey Gardens, or Unity Towers in the 1970s? We’d like to record your memories for the Coney Island History Project’s Oral History Archive and the “Growing Up in the 1970s” episode of the Coney Island Stories podcast. These NYCHA apartment complexes opened in 1969 (O’Dwyer and Surfside), 1970 (Carey Gardens), and 1973 (Unity Towers). We are working on scripts for future episodes about growing up in the 1980s, 1990s, and the first decade of the 2000s. If you were a child or teenager growing up in Coney Island during those years, we’re also interested in recording your memories. Audio interviews are currently being recorded via phone or Zoom. Please contact us at events@coneyislandhistory.org or https://www.coneyislandhistory.org/schedule-interview or send a message via Facebook, twitter or Instagram. |
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