Natalie Milbrodt has a Master's in Library and Information Studies with a concentration in Archives and Cultural Heritage from CUNY- Queens College. From 2010-2012, she recorded and edited oral history interviews for the Coney Island History Project and catalogued audio and visual records in our digital archives. Natalie is currently Associate Coordinator of Metadata Services at the Queens Library and director of the library's crowd-sourced digital archives, the Queens Memory Project, which she first developed as a graduate student.
Interviews
A fan of the Cyclone
Richard describes skipping school to visit in the 1970's when there was a "sense of adventure" in Coney Island. He describes the fun of riding the Cyclone and his hopes for the future of Coney Island. This photo of Richard comes from...
Fan of the Cyclone and the Cyclones
Rob explains why the Cyclone is the best roller coaster he's ever ridden. A regular visitor to Coney Island, he talks about coming out from his home in Long Island to concerts, amusements and Cyclones baseball games.
Fan of the new Luna Park
Mi Won has been visiting Coney Island since her parents brought her as a little girl in the 1970's. Today, she is a teacher in Queens who enjoys amusement rides as much as her students do. She and her sister paid their first visit to the new...
Organist and grandson of B&B Carousell organ doctor
Ed Radonic is a professional musician who plays the organ at Our Lady of Grace in Gravesend, just blocks from Coney Island. His grandfather, Dominick Brugnolotti installed and maintained the mechanical organ at the B&B Carousell for decades. Ed...
Arcade game repairman
Louis Beard grew up in Brooklyn and visited Coney Island with friends as a teenager in the 1980's. He joined the Army right out of high school and worked in immigration where he learned that new citizens had more questions about Coney Island...
Lived through the Great Depression in Coney Island
The History Project returned to an 85-year-old Goldie Durlester in July of 2010. In this interview, Goldie recalls more of the details of her daily life as a child during the Great Depression and as a teenager at the start of the World War II era....
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...
Sand Sculpting Contestant
Joanna Randall took a break from the hot sun where she was working with boyfriend Aaron Sand and their friends Lauren Roberts and Jacob Roberts to complete their entry in the 20th Annual Sand Sculpting Contest. The contest is hosted on the Coney...
Bringing the 1960's back to Coney Island
Ron recalls going with both friends and family to Coney Island back in the 1960's. His family always took the same spot on the beach in front of the Wonder Wheel. He remembers amusement rides from that time in great detail, but waited until his...
First ride on The Cyclone
Kyle Yapching has long awaited being tall enough to ride The Cyclone. He visits his aunt and uncle every summer and finally in 2010 he was able to go on the historic roller coaster. Check out the video his Uncle Steve took of their ride by clicking...