Despite Drizzle, Mermaids March at Coney
A little rain couldn't stop the Annual Mermaid Parade on Surf Avenue in Coney Island. This year's King Neptune, actor Harvey Keitel (with his wife Daphna as Mermaid Queen), was pushed along the route in the traditional chariot, and afterwards was escorted to the beach to cut four ribbons symbolizing the seasons and to take a ceremonial dip in the Atlantic while revelers hurled offerings of fruit and liquor into the surf to propitiate the gods of the sea. The usual floats, trucks, and costume felicities and monstrosities spiced the Parade, as did the customary nudity, with pasties keeping it street legal. A post-parade downpour packed Ruby's on the Boardwalk to a probably illegal but festive capacity, and then celebrants trickled off to the trains, soggy but fulfilled.
Update: Ah -- the Village Voice Mermaid Parade slideshow is up.
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
