Oral History Archive

Filtering by Parachute Jump back to all

Roy Omori

Growing up Japanese American in Coney Island in the 1950s and '60s

Ralph Avella

Memories of working on the Coney Island Parachute Jump's operation crew at age 16

John Hunt

Model builder of roller coasters and amusement rides including the Cyclone and Deno's Wonder Wheel

Alonzo Kittrels

Memories of bus trips to Coney Island with the Good Will Family Club from the 1940's through 1961

Lois McLohon

Brooklynite who posed for a now iconic 1950's NY Daily News pin-up photo on Coney Island Beach

Richard Glazer-Danay

Artist who grew up in Coney Island and whose artwork celebrates his Mohawk iron worker ancestry

Connie Scacciaferro

Memories of going to Coney Island Beach as a child in the 1930's and a teenager in the '40s

Toby Deligdish

Girlhood memories of visiting Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s

Jerry Omanoff

Memories of living in Coney Island from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s

Carlos Quinones

Memories of placing the Puerto Rican flag atop the Parachute Jump and driving the Mermaid Avenue bus

Ita Bullard

Horace and Ita Bullard's attempt to transform Coney Island

Chris Cuomo

Memories of riding the Steeplechase Horses, Human Roulette Wheel and Parachute Jump 70 years ago

Gina Femia

Brooklyn-born playwright on her plays set in Coney Island and a marriage proposal on the beach

Marian Carbone and Anna Jackson

Memories of riding the Parachute Jump and Steeplechase horse race ride in the 1950s

Irene Karas

Sea Gate resident on her girlhood memories of Coney Island and passing them on to her daughter

Richard White

Marine science teacher at Edward R. Murrow High School recalls his Coney Island memories

Commendatore Aldo Mancusi

Memories of Coney Island in the 1930s and '40s and growing up in Brooklyn in an Italian family

Frank Newlands

A look behind the scenes at Steeplechase Park