The Mermaid Parade -- which couldn't happen in 2020 for obvious reasons -- is a celebration of the season, creativity, nautical mythology, fertility, and letting ones freak flag fly. Around 3000 people took part in 2019, including 12 marching bands & lots of scantily clad sea creatures.
”We fool around a lot, but we recognize and empathize with the desperate situation of so many of our fellow humans. We want to do our part, and will be distributing at least half the proceeds of the Tail-a-Thon to a group of charities,” Mermaid Parade Organizers write.
”We will be celebrating when it’s appropriate to be celebrating,” co-ownder Dennis Vourderis said. ”Right now is not a time to be having celebratory events”
2020 got off to a chilly start in Coney Island on a brisk, windy day with temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s, but that didn't deter hundreds from participating in the 116th annual New Years Day Polar Bear Plunge.
Irma Thomas, Archie Bell, Joe Bataan, "Fela! The Concert," The Stylistics and more are among the free SummerStage shows at Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island Boardwalk this summer...