Steve Larkin

Steve Larkin's family lived in Coney Island and Brighton Beach from the time his Latvian-born grandfather David Latzkin immigrated here in 1903 until they moved in 1978. The family resided at 55 Railroad Avenue and later on Brighton 7th Street. Larkin shares vivid memories of his summer job as a teenager working for the M. & C. Chair Operating Company,  a chair and umbrella rental concession licensed by the City for more than 70 years. For Larkin and his friends, getting working papers when they turned 14 and working their way up from "schlepping chairs" to being cashiers was a rite of passage. The stands were located under the boardwalk from Stillwell Avenue to Coney Island Avenue in Brighton. After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School, Larkin says he went away to college and to seek his fortune in the world. This interview was recorded on one of his frequent visits home to Brooklyn.