Mermaid Parade descends on Coney Island Saturday

Maggie Bovaso, left, 58, and Francesca Bonavita, center, talk as Julia Arenson dances before the Coney’ Island’s Mermaid Parade. (HIROKO MASUIKE, Associated Press / June 24, 2006)

Mermaids will make their annual return to Coney Island this weekend. This time around, however, one mermaid is set to launch a hunger strike in protest of the proposed changes to the neighborhood.

At the 25th annual Mermaid Parade on Saturday, event organizers will be encouraging people to return to Coney Island on Tuesday to testify against the city’s plans to rezone the neighborhood, allowing for retail and high rise hotels in the amusement district.

“The Mermaid Parade is a celebration of the true spirit of Coney Island, so it’s perfect timing actually,” said Dianna Carlin, owner of the Lola Staar boutique on the boardwalk.

The parade’s Queen Mermaid, Savitri D., has vowed to go without food until Tuesday’s meeting.

“When we get political, we do it very artistically,” said Dick Zigun, founder of the nonprofit arts organization, Coney Island USA, which started the parade in 1983.

The parade is a point of artistic pride for the city’s amusement industry and is also a New York mainstay: Nearly 850,000 people turned out for last year’s parade, according to the organizers.

As in years past, nautical floats and marchers dressed as mermaids, starfish and even cans of tuna fish will fill the boardwalk. Meanwhile, antique cars will be displayed on Surf Avenue.

With all the spectacles, Carlin is hoping people recognize the importance of Coney Island today and the changes that may lie ahead.

“What’s important right now is spreading awareness and doing it in a fun, glittery way on Mermaid Day,” she said. “I hope that the true spirit of Coney Island will triumph.”

The parade kicks off at 2 p.m. Saturday at West 10th Street and wrap up on Surf Avenue.

By Megan Stride

amNewYork