The Mermaid Parade in Coney Island: A Splendid Way to Spend the Solstice & Greet the Summer!

Coney Island is part of Americana

There's something to be said about enjoying the outdoors when at past 8 pm I was wearing sunglasses! More so, when I was on a boardwalk in Coney Island during Summer Solstice, June 21st, On this--the longest daylight of 2008--the Mermaid Parade took place!

You can see the tens of thousands of people who were there in the picture below, taken near the end of the pier looking back at the beach & boardwalk area.


As in many places near the water, the area is considered a prime location, so developers want to tear down most of the existing buildings and replace them with high-rise (and high-priced) apartments and retail shops. The amusement section is to be reduced by 80%. Coney Island needs an face lift but this shouldn't happen with abandon, without preserving most of its historic character. The community's needs and wishes should also be accommodated.

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The mermaids were very happy. Everybody seemed happy on that sunny, glorious day.

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The boardwalk was the place to be. There were several free music venues. Below, a dancing party is going on. Note the old man on the left side eating corn; he was dancing too, having a blast because he got to eat! There are homeless people everywhere and Coney Island is not exempt.

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A couple revelers

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The rising moon over Manhattan on Solstice

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Tree, Sweet Home: A land mermaid's home, I guess.

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These scenes are from the boardwalk. The parade starts on Surf Avenue and loops around the boardwalk. I think they go around twice.... Or, maybe I was seeing double!

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This year's King Poseidon and the Queen Mermaid. The perpetual, unelected mayor of Coney Island and his Chief Justice. Rev. Billy (King Poseidon) is an activist--check the link for more info, including this year's parade. The Queen (a.k.a. Savitri D) went on a hunger strike after the parade for 3 days in order to attract attention & support for the community's efforts to stop development that would destroy the character of Coney Island.


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Look, a beautiful mermaid for "Obama 08"! There is a level of activism surrounding this event, not necessarily partisan, but, you know, this is New York! Let's also say, that this kind of event does not attract the conservative types... You know, the uptight ones, those who know God's mind and want to shove their morality down our throat.


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This band--Venice Beach Muscle Club--was good!

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The sideshow/freakshow is a staple of CI

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The Cyclone! Yeah, this rare (surviving) wooden roller-coaster opened in 1927. Not the fastest, or the fanciest, or the scariest, but definitely a landmark.

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Parading on the boardwalk

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PS> I don't know why clicking on the pictures leads to a dead-end.

Update: I designated all my albums on Picasa as "unlisted" which means general links to them and/or searches don't work. If you want, email me and I'll give you the links to them, so you can see these and more pictures on line.