Jacob Kabariti
Professor Aries
IDC 3001H
April 27,2015
Coney Island Oral Interview
After exiting the train station on a cold and windy afternoon, I immediately thought to walk to the amusement park and boardwalk across the street to find interviewees. After circling a couple of times with a confused look on my face as crowds of people walked past me, I finally built up the courage to stop strangers and introduce myself. I met a few really nice people however, they were just tourists and have never lived in the area. So I decided to leave the boardwalk and move toward the residential sections.
I was in luck after finding a small plaza where all the residents in the area would shop. This is where I met John Blake standing there checking his pockets for his lottery ticket. John has lived in the neighborhood for over 25 years. Previously, he lived in the Flatbush area located higher up in Brooklyn. He moved to Coney Island after having his second child in search of a bigger space and cheap rent. He recalls 25 years ago that Coney Island was a “swamp.” After asking what he meant by that, John looked around and pointed, all of these huge apartment buildings weren’t around. He informed me that most of those where owned by Donald Trump. They were massive, 40 plus stories high, trump villages. He told me that everything is now changing and so I asked him to clarify.
First off he said, the rent keeps on increasing for him and his neighbors. When he first came, rent was for $400 and now he pays $2700 a month for a three-bedroom house. John is struggling even though he considers himself middle class and has his own business. However, his fellow black friends and neighbors aren’t as fortunate. He said that most earn a low income working maintenance jobs and taking care of the elderly. Due to this and Hurricane Sandy, he believes that is why robbery rates have risen and his neighbor was robbed at 2 am last month.
The demographics have also changed. He recalls the time when a lot of Jews were walking in the streets but now they have moved and Russians took their place. Blacks are still the minority and earn the low wages. This is why John is pushing education for his children. He says they need to be ready with a degree to enter this expensive and evolving neighborhood.
This neighborhood is in the midst of renewal. Huge companies are buying people out of the area. John informed me that the plaza we were standing in will be taken down soon and another 40-story building will take its place. He referred to Coney Island as the “money maker” now. This seemed to be the theme running through the interview. The area is changing and people are running now to purchase real estate in this promising neighborhood.
In conclusion, the interview and conversation I had with John was truly intriguing and I found a new perspective on looking at Coney Island. The most frustrating part was the cold weather that hindered people to stop and chat for long. After standing outside for over 40 minutes with John I asked if he sees himself staying in Coney Island, to which he replied with an enthusiastic yes then stopped and said, “not if I won the lottery with this ticket I can’t seem to find.”