Donna Bianco

Gravesend native Donna Bianco became a police officer at age 22 after a female cop, one of the few she knew, registered her for the test and she scored well. She was assigned to Coney Island from 1986 through 1993, when the neighborhood was crime-ridden and scarred with abandoned buildings. Bianco, whose mother enjoyed Coney Island in its heyday, says she learned to love her beat and its sense of history. Among her recollections are a call to investigate a break-in at the house under the Thunderbolt roller coaster, the murder of a prostitute, daring rescues during the nor'easter of 1992, and coffee breaks at Phllips Candy in Stillwell Terminal.