Skip to content
The logo for Brooklyn Jewish Heritage Initiative whose mission is to Organize Public Events, Create Oral & Video Histories, Provide Resources to the Brooklyn Jewish Community

Brooklyn Jewish
Historical Initiative

bc Home » Coney Island

Coney Island

Famous Nathan Premiering at Tribeca Film Festival

  • by

Broadening the scope of Nathan’s history is a colorful cast of family members and priceless characters from Coney Island.A Coney Island institution for nearly 100 years, Nathan’s Famous Frankfurters has left an indelible imprint on the collective memory and palate of New York and its visitors. Director and grandson of ‘Famous’ Nathan himself, Lloyd Handwerker takes a look back at his family history, the immigrant experience, and Nathan’s pursuit of the American dream through this personal narrative gem. Broadening the scope of Nathan’s history is a colorful cast of family members and priceless characters from Coney Island. Featuring beautiful home movie footage, rare archival material, and a bold editing style, Famous Nathan will not disappoint New York history enthusiasts.

-Dan Hunt

Read More »Famous Nathan Premiering at Tribeca Film Festival

Tuesday Nights In Summer

  • by

On the seventeenth floor in Luna Park,
Neighbors would gather just after dark.
Many beliefs and nationalities,
We shared our delicious specialties.
Everyone talked, had fun and cared,
A little part of our lives were shared.
Read More »Tuesday Nights In Summer

Coney Island Life

  • by

Submitted by Roberta Ann Afflitto

At a time when I was experiencing loss and sadness, I moved to Coney Island. It took me a while to make friends, but when I did – every day became an adventure. We would walk down Surf Avenue, moving to the uplifting sound of the carousel. We’d ride it and attempt to catch the golden ring to earn another ride. The aromas of grilling hot dogs and French fries made us quicken our steps to reach Nathan’s. The crunch of that first bite gave our tastebuds a salty, yummy treat. Then on to play games such as skeetball.

Read More »Coney Island Life

Luna Park Set to Host Large Sukkot Spectacle

  • by

By Francesca Norsen-Tate, Religion Editor – Brooklyn Daily Eagle 10/7 Jews around Brooklyn find innovative, fun ways of celebrating the joyful festivals. This year, Brooklyn’s famous amusement park at Coney Island will be transformed into a Sukkot Spectacle. Sukkot is the festival of booths. Taking place in autumn, Sukkot celebrates trust in God and the gathering of community. Luna Park in Coney Island is preparing to host a Sukkot Spectacle… Read More »Luna Park Set to Host Large Sukkot Spectacle

Pieces of Pictures

  • by

By Victoria Gold

I was born in nineteen fifty one in Brighton Beach Brooklyn, NYC. Brighton was a magical and mystical place to grow up. What more could a kid want than to be surrounded by the ocean, Coney Island and New York City?

The Gold family lived surrounded by the bracing smell of fresh ocean salt-water air. The overhead deafening sound of the elevated subway could not deter the pleasures of growing up by the ocean. Living by the beach opened my childhood eyes to all the wonderful beauties and diversities that growing up in the Big Apple in the fifties and early sixties offered.

Until I was eight we lived on Brighton Fourth Street in one of the multitudes of six-floor brick apartment buildings that encircled the boardwalk and Brighton Beach Ave. The assortment of buildings spanned lengthwise from Ocean Parkway through to Manhattan Beach and widthwise from the Boardwalk to Brighton Beach Avenue where you met the elevated train. During Brighton’s heyday, some of these buildings were mighty and grand. When my family moved to Brighton, most of the six floor apartment buildings were erected between the turn of the twenty century and the nineteen thirties. The architecture of a few of the buildings were extraordinary. Even today in 2015, a few buildings stand out as art deco icons.  Having intricate art deco engraving on the lobby doors and windows with fancy brickwork under the windows that simulated elaborate window shades.
Read More »Pieces of Pictures