Solomon Riley Presents Negro Coney Island

Often discussed as an urban legend or a failed architectural project, Solomon Riley Presents Negro Coney Island redresses the erasure around Riley’s completed amusement park for the Black Residents in Harlem and the Bronx in 1924 on Hart Island. Working across archives, contemporary footage of Hart Island, and speculative interviews with key Black cultural producers of the time, including Riley, the film reimagines what we know about Negro Coney Island and its legacy with New York City’s still active potter’s field, Hart Island. Written, Directed, Produced, and Edited by Ayanna Dozier Co-Produced by The Shed and MONO NO AWARE

Music “Choo-choo (I Gotta Hurry Home)”; Written by Duke Ellington, Dave Ringle, and Bob Schafer; Performed by Duke Ellington’s Washingtonians (Duke Ellington, Billy Murray, Rosario Bourdon, Ed Smalle, William H. Reitz, and Francis J. Lapitino); © Public Domain “Counting the Blues”; Written Gertrude Rainey; Performed by Ma Rainey and Her Georgia Band; © Public Domain “Stormy Sea Blues” ; Written by Thomas Dorsey; Performed by Ma Rainey and Her Georgia Band; © Public Domain