Three people deserve my very special thanks, and they all could not be more loved. To my dad, my role model, for his integrity, quiet strength, and rebellious spirit. To my mom, an extraordinary caregiver: I love you. And I love you, Leslie. You made this all possible. Thank you for your intelligence, creativity, and passion.
An especially huge thank-you to Hy Brown, still sharp as a tack at ninety-two. I can’t thank him enough for his generosity and knowledge of all things Nathan’s. Thanks to Jay Cohen, my grandfather’s “stepson,” for so much heartfelt insight into Nathan and Nathan’s Famous; Jimmy Bologna, a survivor to the core and a treasure; Felix Vasquez, for his tremendous humanity and spunk; Richard Traunstein, who was equal parts hilarious and thoughtful; Sidney Handwerker, a smart, lovely man; Al Shalik, for his fantastic stories told in his inimitable style. Thanks to Joe Handwerker, who gave fifty years to Nathan’s, you are deeply appreciated; to Murray and Dorothy Handwerker, for their great hospitality, time spent with me, and for their deep devotion to the business; and Steve Handwerker, for his many important insights into our grandparents and the business.
Thanks also to my sisters Nora and Lisa Handwerker; to Noah Delgado De Torres, Ilana Aide Handwerker, and Miguel Delgado De Torres; to Jacob and Rose Handwerker, Anna Singer, Sidney and Lorraine Handwerker, Lena and Hyman Schuchman, Jack and Leah Dreitzer, Max and Claire Kamiel, Bill Handwerker, Ken Handwerker, Leah Sternshein, Lou Sternshein, David Sternshein, Alan Sternshein, Fran Basch, Russell and Ivan Basch, Hannah Sternshein, and to the entire extended Handwerker family; to my grandparents Chaim and Dora Geller and the entire Geller family; the entire Siegel family; and Jared DeFrancesco.
My gratitude also goes out to the great folks at Flatiron Books, including Colin Dickerman, James Melia, and Whitney Frick for the care and attention they brought to this project; to Gil Reavill, who conducted historical research and took hundreds of hours of interviews, then helped to weave them into stories and those stories into a book. To Paul Bresnick, my literary agent, who in very Nathan-like fashion made this whole book possible.
Thanks to the unbelievably generous workers: Maria Argano, Hyman Silverglad, Eddie Fuerst, Bob Levine, Johnny Poa, Izzy Rodriguez, Sol Seiderman, Sol Gaber, Frank Soto, Thomas Settle, Sinta Low, Leonard Markowitz, Marvin Lubeck, Paul Berlly, Jose Santiago, Sammy Fariello, Morty Matz, Max Rosey, Al Harris, Marsha and Marty Abramson.
On my documentary, for this book, and in other aspects, I am grateful for the participation of Madeleine Molyneaux, Russell Green, Heather Greene, Hanna Buck, Charlotte Farrel, Alex Bayer, Mandy Kordal, Angelo Corrao, Sean R. Smith, Dylan Puchala, Jeremiah Hawkins, Jeremiah Zagar, Frankie Marin, Sheri Manson, Rick Schnupp. To my good friends and the people of Coney Island: David Hellman, Hiroko Takeda, Margaret Cohen, Richard Cohen, Pegi Vail, Melvin Estrella, Terry Savage, Frank and Caroline Morris, Ergo Phizmiz, Paul Eli, Lenora Todaro, Josh Simons, Sonny Aronson, Amy Nicholson, Phil Buehler, Michael Schwartz, Caroline McCrory, Don Purple, Bea Sager, Harold Feinstein, Hal Ginsburg, Mike Zwerling, Pac Lab, Du Art, Maurice Schecter, Susan Hermuth, Nancy Arner, Jon and Christina Tucker, Stan Fox, Zoe Beloff, Jay Singer, Matt Harvey, Matt Kennedy, Dewey Albert, Paul Georgoulakos, Gregory Bitetzakis, Johnny “Blackie” Casillo, Morris and Doris Sunshine, Larry Moyer, Nat Dubler, Larry Rocco, Joe Sciammetta, Jim McDonnell, Richard Egan, Charlie Denson, Dick Zigun, Rob Leddy, Tricia Vita, Michael Quinn, Roseanne Giordano-Semler, Al Lasher, Abe Feinstein, Stewart Kampel, Jimmy Prince, John Dorman of Phillips Candy, Mirela Iverac, Pat Auletta and family, Sylvia and David Barsion, Tom Volpe; thanks to all of the festival and theater programmers who supported my film; thanks to South Carolina University, Yad Vashem, New York Public Library Archives, the Mangels family, the Williams family, Tom’s of Coney Island, the Vouderis family of Wonderwheel, and George Shea.