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Brooklyn Jewish
Historical Initiative

Coney Island Notebook

Beginning in the 1910s, Jewish, along with Irish and Italian immigrants, began moving into the two-story houses and apartment complexes located a few blocks inland from Coney Island’s amusement parks and beaches. Informal neighborhoods, whose boundaries were drawn according to ethnic backgrounds, were quickly created.

Coney Island Boardwalk, July 1933, showing Oriole Baths and the Thunderbolt Roller Coaster.

Coney Island Boardwalk, July 1933, showing Oriole Baths and the Thunderbolt Roller Coaster.

The Coney Island that many of us have known and grew to love in our youth is, without a doubt, one of the world’s most famous seaside attractions. An island less than five miles long and half a mile wide, it has drawn millions upon millions of visitors seeking rest and relaxation for as long as anyone of us can remember.

Who can ever forget Steeplechase Park, the Cyclone roller coaster, the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump? Of course, Coney Island did not start out this way.

Courtesy of The New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Courtesy of Steven Laskymuseumoffamilyhistory.com

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