Welcome to the second installment of photos from this year’s Mermaid Parade at Coney Island! Like I mentioned yesterday, we’ll be featuring great shots all week thanks to all the photographers who are contributing their fantastic work to our Flickr pool.
Today’s round-up may be monochromatic, but what it lacks in color, it more than makes up in vibrant personality! Thanks to all the talented photographers below for their great shots. Enjoy!
“The Life Aquatic,” by Lucy Aboytes:
Untitled, by Barry Yanowitz and Untitled, by Alec McClure:
“Jasmine,” by poor.humble:
Untitled, both images by Leanne Staples:
“Jellyfish,” by Joanna Pan:
This past weekend, a whole host of fanciful creatures performed for approximately one zillion spectators at this year’s Mermaid Parade. Always well-covered by photographers drawn to its bright costumes and zany characters, the annual Coney Island spectacle was even more massive than than I remember this year, aided by beautiful weather and balmy skies.
Lots of FTLOB photographers trekked out to the shore for the meet-up event, and I can’t wait to share some of their best shots. I encourage you to check back all week for more, and feel free to browse the Flickr pool if you’d like to get a head start!
Without further ado, here’s the first installment of photos from the 2010 Mermaid Parade!
Untitled, by Barry Yanowitz (also featured on Brownstoner!):
“Basking in the Afterglow,” by yjmarigold and “Hustler” by poor.humble:
“Lovelies,” by poor.humble:
Untitled, both images by ifotog:
“Sandy Warhols,” by Barry Yanowitz:
Last week, a friend-and-historian gave me the heads-up about a tour happening on Sunday morning. The walk, led by volunteer-run not-for-profit Save Coney Island, was designed to stroll down Surf Avenue and take an in-depth look at the historic buildings which line the boardwalk. Several of these buildings are currently in limbo, threatened with demolition by Coney Island developer Thor Equities.
There are many better informed sites where you can read about the details of the controversy, but what about the casual Coney fan? I love going out to the shore and enjoying concerts or ballgames at KeySpan. I thoroughly enjoy people-watching along the boardwalk, especially at the Mermaid Parade this weekend! And of course, summer isn’t summer without an icy cold drink and a hot dog at Nathan’s… as long as you get a side of those piping hot crinkle fries with a little plastic red fork.
But Thor Equities CEO Joe Sitt begs to differ: he recently said in an interview with NY1: “Every one of these buildings is just horrible, rundown relics with nothing exciting about them. I hate to say it, but the great buildings of Coney Island disappeared 80 years ago.”
Save Coney Island is trying to fight back, though, with a proposed historic district, a massive PR campaign and some good old-fashioned grassroots organization. To find out more about their proposal and see some beautiful vintage photographs, check out this brochure. And to find out what you can do to help out, click here.
I took my camera along for the tour, so check out the shots below for more information about what’s at stake!
Juan Rivera kicks off the tour with a brief history of the Shore Theatre, and how Nathan’s hot dogs came to be so famous.
Built in 1925, The Shore Theatre watches over the corner of Surf and Stillwell. Originally a Lowes Theatre, it once held a capacity of 2500 for a grand variety of live shows and movies.
The wood-framed Shore Hotel, built in 1903, and the Herman Popper building, 1904. The former housed small-scale hotels and the latter, a distillery and tavern.
Another shot of the Popper building, now next door to a bumper car funhouse.
My thanks go to all 100+ of you who entered to win tickets in our very first giveaway yesterday — I really wish we could’ve given everyone passes to see The National! We had so many fun summertime ideas submitted, from Coney Island skeeball to swimming at the barge pool. And when it came to choosing the giveaway winner, random.org chose Cher who loves to go for early runs at Prospect Park and browse through the stands at the Brooklyn Flea before checking out the vintage stores in Park Slope. Sounds lovely!
Also lovely was the show at Radio City Music Hall last night. After meeting up with Cher to give her the tickets, we all quickly found out that we were in for a treat. The National played a wide variety of new songs and old hits alike to the sold-out crowd. Sufjan Stevens and St. Vincent’s Annie Clark also made cameo appearances, and the audience was loving it. Check out Brooklyn Vegan for the setlist and more commentary about the show, and below for more photographs!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING ENTRIES!
Brooklyn-based indie faves The National will take the stage tonight at Radio City Music Hall to a sold-out crowd in support of their new album, High Violet. For the Love of Brooklyn has an extra pair of tickets to the show and is itching to give them away to one lucky reader.
Leave a comment on this post and tell us: what’s your favorite thing to do in Brooklyn during the summertime? Is it seeing free shows at Prospect Park? Biking to the shore and enjoying Coney Island? Rocking out to sweaty shows at Union Pool or strolling the streets of Ditmas Park?
The winner will be selected and emailed at 4pm. You must be able to pick up the tickets in DUMBO before 7pm or meet up at Radio City by 7:45pm.
Good luck!
* PRIZE: Two tickets to see The National TONIGHT (6/16, 8pm) at Radio City Music Hall.
* TO ENTER: Comment on this post and tell us your favorite thing to do in Brooklyn in the summertime!
* GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, June 16th at 4pm EST
* HOW IT WORKS: One entry per e-mail address permitted.
This weekend as I was browsing through our ever-growing Flickr pool, I stumbled upon the medium-format work of Triebensee. The way he sees life through his Hasselblad is really touching; and his series on the Steeplechase Pier at Coney Island is just wonderful.
I immediately reached out to find out what he thinks is so special about this pier where locals go to fish for striped bass, bluefish, and fluke. Triebensee replied:
I’m drawn to the Steeplechase Pier because it’s an ideal place to observe the great diversity of modern New Yorkers both interact and respectfully avoid each other while performing ancient rituals. The fishermen and women there kibbitz when appropriate, yet allow each other enough space to focus on the task at hand and contemplate. All ages, ethnicities, languages and lifestyles are represented.
Truly this diversity is evident in the photoset below, which he has graciously allowed me to share. Please be sure to click through each photo to see the textures in detail, and if you’d like to photograph the Pier for yourself, come join us this weekend for our Coney Island meet-up!
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to go outside and enjoy the weather today! I took a break just before lunch to stretch out on a picnic blanket at the Brooklyn Bridge Park, just like Marie over at 66 Square Feet recently did. (I highly recommend this approach to your work day.) It’s hard not to admire how green and lovely the parks are getting with this beautiful summery weather, and the round-up of Flickr faves below certainly reflects that.
Take a load off, drink a few sips of a nice iced coffee, and enjoy these picks!
“Take a Deep Breath, Relax” by bdwac:
Untitled, by Single Linds Reflex:
“The Private Life of a Cat,” by Marie Viljoen:
“The Lake,” by Rob Hoey:
“Cycling,” by Yorkaholic:
Unless you have school-age kids who had the day off, you might not have even realized that last week we celebrated Brooklyn-Queens Day last Thursday. Originally founded in 1829, the holiday historically hosted a huge parade, seen at right in the photograph which FTLOB contributor Peter Puleo dug up, which features the procession of revelers at Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road in 1952. What might surprise you, though, are the origins of the holiday. According to the Queens Public Library,
Back then it was known, and fondly remembered by some, as Anniversary Day. Anniversary Day is celebrated annually on the first Thursday in June, commemorating the founding of the First Sunday School on Long Island. The first parade was held in Brooklyn June 1829.
To commemorate this year’s 181st annual Brooklyn-Queens Day, Peter also unearthed the wonderful photographs below which feature a wide range of Brooklyn pride and history. For more reading, I suggest this great line-up of archived Brooklyn Daily Eagle articles about Anniversary Day (mostly from the 1800′s) over at Gothamist. Hope you enjoy!
The first American ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) on display at Coney Island in the 1950′s. The 80-foot missile was set to launch on May 24th, Armed Services Day.
Celebrating the Dodgers Pennant win in 1949.
At Pitkin Avenue and Watkins Street in Brownsville, 1957. This was Nathan’s biggest competitor and it eventually became the Papaya King in the city.
Sutter Avenue in Brownsville, 1949.
Lafayette Avenue and Grand Avenue in Bed-Stuy, 1929.
Now that June is here, we are excited to announce the details of the next For the Love of Brooklyn meet-up! If you’ve never made it out to Coney Island for the annual Mermaid Parade – this is your chance!
Come one, come all, and prepare to be amazed by the costumes and floats that make up the nation’s largest art parade and one of New York City’s most beloved events. This year, Lou Reed will be presiding as King Neptune, and the belle o’ the ball Queen Mermaid will be Laurie Anderson. We’ll meet up a half hour or so before the parade to try and score a good spot along the route, and leave plenty of time afterwards to grab a bite and a cold drink along the boardwalk! Can’t wait to see you there!
If you’d like to sign up to receive news about future meet-ups and events, make sure to submit your email address in the sidebar or become a fan on Facebook!
Date: Saturday, June 19th
Time: 1:30pm
Location: In front of the Shore Theater, at Surf and Stillwell Ave (map)
Via MTA: N / Q / F / D to Coney Island – Stillwell Ave
For a taste of the awesomely bizarre event that is the Mermaid Parade, check out these great shots below!
“The Greatest Show on Earth, 2009,” by Genial23:
“Mermaid Parade, 2008,” by Genial23:
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 by Jill
tags: coney island, events, meet-up