Happy #NationalRollerCoasterDay! I recorded an oral history for @coneyislandhistory.bsky.social with roller coaster designer Mike Boodley. Fifty years ago, he broke a world record riding the Coney Island Cyclone 1,001X in 45 hrs 🎢 www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history... @ridewithace.bsky.social

Charles Denson, director of the Coney Island History Project, has a NEW Substack about Coney Island! ➡️ Read his first post & subscribe for free: coneyologist.substack.com Denson is the author of the prizewinning Coney Island: Lost and Found and three other books about Coney Island.

Hit the Hammer, Ring the Bell! My article about the history of the high striker is published in the July issue of Amusement Warehouse, the print magazine companion to carnivalwarehouse.com. The strongman game inspired the phrase "close, but no cigar!" because a cigar was your prize if you won.

NEW in our oral history archive: Randy Profeta, great grandson of Coney Island sign painter Harry Wildman (1875-1930), who created the logo for Nathan's when it opened in 1916. Recorded for the Coney Island History Project by @triciavita.bsky.social. www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history...

The Coney casino developers are falsely claiming that gambling casinos were once a traditional business in Coney Island & @nycplanning.bsky.social bought the lie. History lesson: www.coneyislandhistory.org/blog/coney-c... @bkbpreynoso.bsky.social @justinbrannan.bsky.social @alexsommer.bsky.social

Watching Coney Island's 4th of July fireworks on West 15th St thru the loop of Luna Park's Thunderbolt roller coaster 🎢

Yesterday, the NYC Council voted to rezone Coney Island - AGAIN!!!!!! Coney Island attendance in 2006 (before @nycplanning.bsky.social rezoned in 2009): 12.8M ... and in 2022: 5M A casino won't save what they've ruined. tv.apple.com/us/movie/zip...

Unfortunately @council.nyc.gov passed Coney Island casino proposal to de-map public streets & acquire air rights for hotel 2x the height allowed by zoning. Vote was 36 - yes, including the vote of local CM @justinbrannan.bsky.social, 11 - no, and 4 abstentions. www.brooklynpaper.com/city-council...

Being on the umpteenth draft of my memoir, this essay speaks to me.

Gilbert Chadwick, 92, the oldest showman at the Hoppings, one of Europe's largest travelling funfairs, on being on the road: "I say don't think about it, just do it, keep going. Sit down for six months and you'll seize up, and that's it." www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...

Sarah Hengler (1765–1845) Fire Queen of Vauxhall Gardens, The King's Pyrotechnic. Businesswoman, firework artist. Matriarch of family of acrobats & performers who founded Hengler's Circus. Invented rocket element for early shore to ship lifesaving equipment en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_H... #INWED25

DYK applications to open a NYC area casino are due today? That's why @council.nyc.gov is in a mad rush to pass rezoning for Coney casino 😡 Please phone or email Coney Island Councilman Justin Brannan (718-748-5200, [email protected]) and your council member. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/n...

The NYC Council will vote on a casino developer's demapping proposal on Monday, June 30 ⚠️ If you don't want Coney Island to be replaced by a casino, we urge you to phone or email Coney Councilman @justinbrannan.bsky.social and your council member. Find your district: council.nyc.gov/districts/

Today in @transom.bsky.social — my tribute to media historian, radio writer, documentarian, teacher and all around king, Erik Barnouw. transom.org/2025/audio-a...

Book bans are getting weirder, targeting cats, dogs and civic-minded grandmas, writes @andizeisler.bsky.social www.salon.com/2025/06/26/b...

Do NOT rank Brannan! He is bought out by the people who want to turn Coney Island into a Casino! He has accepted donations from the PAC that supports it, and refuses to listen to constituents who don’t want it! No to the casino, or no votes for him!

It's the Mermaid parade day on Coney Island. Have fun but watch out for "Shark Girl" graphite on paper. #art #artist #graphite #pencildrawing #pinup #goodgirlart #comics #illustration #fineart #portrait #fantasyart #brooklynartist #comicart

Happy 81st Birthday to our dear friend Stanley Fox from all of us at the Coney Island History Project! He and his family operated arcades in Coney for more than 30 years. You can listen to his oral history interview recorded by @triciavita.bsky.social here: www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history...

Happy first Saturday of summer and Mermaid Parade Day! Photo from my carnival collection of diving girls from the Neptune's Daughter show with the Great Wortham Shows, 1917 season 🧜‍♀️

This is a travesty! See what happened back then: tv.apple.com/us/movie/zip...

Hello from Berlin where a few hundred Americans are outside the embassy, currently reading aloud from the Declaration of Independence. #nokings

Dear NY friends, voting in the NYC Primary is June 14-24. Since I've worked in Coney Island for the past 18 years & all politics is local, I’m hyper-focused on the NYC Comptroller’s race. I'm ranking @marklevinenyc.bsky.social #1 for NYC Comptroller and won't be ranking @justinbrannan.bsky.social

Many thanks to Time Out New York for their article about our exhibit "Charles Denson: Coney Island Streets: 1965–1975" and including it in their best exhibitions guide 🙏 www.timeout.com/newyork/news... Exhibition center hours are 1-7pm on Saturdays, Sundays & holidays thru Labor Day. Free admission!

Check out our blog post to read Charles Denson's comments on the casino, info on attending the hearing/submitting comments, and contacting Coney CM @justinbrannan.bsky.social, whose vote is extremely important because it’s customary for NYC Council members to vote with the local council member

Help stop Coney Island from being replaced by a casino! June 12 NYC Council Land Use Committee hearing on Coney casino developer's proposal to demap public streets & acquire air rights to build sky bridges & a hotel 2X the height allowed by current zoning. www.coneyislandhistory.org/blog/june-12...

Cat at Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY May 29, 2025 📷 by @elrickerikose.bsky.social #photography #cat #coneyisland #caturday #brooklyn

"Writing is always embodied, either in a body — through the storyteller — or on the page, on the screen." thecreativeindependent.com/people/write...

Excited that the Coney Island History Project opens for the season this weekend and I get to hang out with Cy the Cyclops 👁️ again. I'll be working there today, May 24, so if you're in Coney stop by and 👀 us!

My favorite genre of sideshow banners, a word banner, is on the auction block today! But living in a small apt puts this 11.5 x 10 foot beauty beyond my reach. As banner collector Jim Secreto said in a piece I wrote about his collection: "If you've got to worry about the size don't get in the game."

The Coney Island History Project kicks off summer season with two new exhibits exploring urban change and streetscapes. Open Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 1-7 PM. Free admission for one and all! www.brooklynpaper.com/coney-island...

BREAKING: The Authors Guild and a group of scholars and writers filed a class action lawsuit against the NEH, its leadership, and officials within the “DOGE” for unlawfully terminating millions of dollars in committed grants. Full statement: authorsguild.org/news/ag-file...

It's #NationalPetWeek and we're celebrating the memory of the fabulous Ms. Colombia, who frequently brought her poodle Carino and bird Rosita to pose for souvenir photos, and the many pups who "rode" the kiddie whip car and Steeplechase horse at the Coney Island History Project!

Excited to have my first piece in Amusement Warehouse, the print magazine companion to carnivalwarehouse.com. I wrote about Coney Island's WF Mangels' Whip, the first portable thrill ride. If you know of a show or park that still has a Whip in operation, please LMK. I'm updating my Whip Census!

Has anybody played a Glass Pitch lately? Throwback to the one that was next door to my High Striker at the Big A Fair at Aqueduct. No Leaning, No Sticking Substance on Coins, No Chewing Gum on Coins, No Spitting on Coins. #carnival #signage

April 26: #IndieBookstoreDay May 3: The FREE Indie Lit Fair in NYC Join us on Lafayette Street, between Astor Place and Joe’s Pub, for the ninth annual Indie Lit Fair, co-presented by PEN World Voices and @clmporg.bsky.social. Full details: worldvoices.pen.org/event/25-ind...

Enjoying this heavenly pastiera di grano from Pasticceria Rocco! My aunts on the Italian side of my family have been making grain pie for Easter for as far back as I can remember. They wouldn't share their recipe with mom, who was French American but learned to cook Italian after marrying dad....1/2

Happy Easter from Coney Island! You knew Coney was named Conyne Eylandt --Rabbit Island-- by the Dutch, right? 🐇🐇🐇

My first ride of the season on the Wonder Wheel on Palm Sunday, Coney Island's traditional opening day ❤️! Thanks to Robert Galletta for his photo.

See you Sunday, April 13, at 10 AM for the Blessing of the Rides & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park! The first 105 guests ride the Wheel free. Read our blog post about how Palm Sunday became Coney Island’s traditional opening day in 1956: www.coneyislandhistory.org/blog/remembe...

My memoir about working the spot joint for Benny Harrison on Jones Walk is published today in Gramercy Review! "I didn’t go to Coney Island looking for the spot game. It found me. I’d all but given up my elusive quest to once again work my game of choice..." www.gramercyreview.com/the-spot-joi...

Studs Terkel's books were my introduction to oral history as a college student. In fact, I think it was the first time I encountered the word "oral history." Soon after that, I began recording my mom and dad's stories. #BooksThatChangedMe

Paul's Daughter on the Coney Island Boardwalk, established as Gregory and Paul’s in 1962. It's delightful to once again see the beloved vintage signs for “Mr. Shrimp” & “Chiefito and Chiefita - the Nice N Sweet/Fluffy Cotton Candy Kids” painted by Hector George Wallace carefully preserved inside...

An amazing 20 hours and counting...Senator Cory Booker is speaking live on the Senate floor in opposition to the Trump administration. More of this and not business as usual, please. www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ut... @booker.senate.gov

I’ve taken the Senate floor and will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis. Watch here:

Excited to announce that I'm a LMCC 2025 Manhattan Arts Grants Recipient! Thanks to Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's support, I will bring my reminiscence, oral history and storytelling workshop to an older adult center in Manhattan later this year. #LMCC #CreativeAging #ArtsEngagement

I went to the Circus exhibition at Lambeth Archives this week. Sandy The Clown who performed at Astley’s Amphitheater in 1884 is my absolute hero. Astley’s, the world’s first ever Circus on the site where St Thomas’ Hospital is now was already over 100 years old at this point 🤡

"Gaby Muñoz, a 43-year-old performer known onstage as Chula the Clown, used her open, expressive face and antic physicality to joke wordlessly about loss, aging in a woman’s body and other concepts that have long been overlooked in the male-dominated world of clowns." www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/t...

Reminder: it's also Saint Gertrude Day, the Patron Saint of Cats.

Happy #StPatricksDay from 1940's Coney Island! Shamrock Irish House had an orchestra, dancing and singing waiters. It was owned by the Buxbaum family, who later opened the Eldorado Arcade. Listen to Sheila Buxbaum Fitlin's #oralhistory in our archive: www.coneyislandhistory.org/oral-history...

#Feminism lives! The Ten Women Bicycle, a feminist fable and my first ever pub, is a new orchestral work by June Bonacich and will be performed by Community Women's Orchestra. The Bay Area org is celebrating its 40th anniversary and my story was published in Ms. Magazine and as a book 45 years ago!