‘Matriarch’ of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park remembered in Coney Island
Family started with snack bar, ended up with entire park
Members of the Vourderis family, community leaders, officials and Coney Island residents gathered on Friday to honor the legacy of Theodora Lula Vourderis, known as the matriarch of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, with a street co-naming ceremony.
The intersection of West 12th Street and Riegelmann Boardwalk was dedicated and co-named Theodora Lula Vourderis Way.
Lula Vourderis was the family matriarch to the entire Vourderis family, consisting of four children, 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. In the 1960s, she helped her husband Denos start a hot dog pushcart business on the boardwalk in Coney Island, which would later become Deno’s Snack Bar. There, she cooked fried shrimp, chicken, and whipped up cotton candy for visitors.