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| Mermaid Parade 2009 |
Yesterday I spent the day in Coney Island, located in the NYC borough of Brooklyn. The name comes from the old Dutch Conyne Eylandt, which translated as Rabbit Island, and after rail lines arrived in the 1860s, it became a major resort with the largest amusement area in the US, visited by millions every year. It’s hard though to imagine that by looking at the place today: the decline of Coney Island started right after World War II, when the popularization of automobiles led people to favor less crowded and more appealing beaches. Coney Island nowadays is pretty run down, but unattractive as it is, it’s an interesting place, if for nothing else because it is such a time warp that you see things you thought you’d never see again. I don’t know of any other place where you can find old amusement parks with elaborate carousels sitting among billboards announcing freak shows such as a two-headed turtle, a two-bodied boy, a headless woman and the like. Or where you can shoot paint balls at a “freak” (actually a person in a freaky costume, which begs the question: who would ever want to be paid to get shot at?!). Nor there are many places around where you can find tiny candy stores with countless jars filled with multicolored lollipops, a few different types of candy apple, pink and blue cotton candy. Coney Island may be unappealing as any place I’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely unique.
But why did I go there? It was the Mermaid Parade, which takes place annually and marks the beginning of summer. Unfortunately, the weather was anything but summery as it rained almost non-stop, sometimes pretty hard. But that didn’t put a damper on paraders who happily strutted their stuff in skimpy costumes. And those people love a camera! The bigger the better, and I missed some good shots because I only took my point-and-shoot due to the rain, but I think you’ll get the idea. The Mermaid Parade is actually one of the most fun parades in NY, and you can make a day of it. It starts at 2 pm, but you can get there earlier and see the cars in the Antique Car Competition. After the parade ends at around 4 pm, you can head to the boardwalk and listen to one of several bands playing by the beach. Or maybe just take a dip in the ocean (when it’s not raining and cold like yesterday…).
So if you want to get your own taste of Coney Island, the next big event is Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July, an annual tradition since 1916 in which the winner is whoever eats the most hot dogs in 10 minutes. Last year, the winner swallowed 59 or about one every 10 seconds. It’s quintessential Coney Island – rough around the edges, but undoubtedly intriguing.
