KING NEPTUNE DAVID JOHANSEN AND QUEEN MERMAID KARMEN GUY RULE THE WAVES!
23rd Annual Mermaid Parade Biggest Ever!

With the weather forecast to be sunny and in the 90s there was every indication that 2005 would be one of the biggest Mermaid Parades ever. And indeed it was. The crowd was especially heavy, stacked 10 or more deep along the route. According to the Bay News, we were visited by over half-a-million people this year. So more people than ever came out to see a Parade that featured more than 250 units, including almost 50 antique cars and more that 1,200 participants.

The Permanently Unelected Mayor of Coney Island, Dick Zigun, led off the Parade at 2 PM, banging his own drum, accompanied by the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, which slowly lost ground due to mechanical difficulties. Dick headed a procession of Mermaids, Neptunes, Sea Creatures, Marching Groups, Bands and other aquatic and nautical creations down the Boardwalk to West 16th Street, up to Surf and back toward to West 10th Street, closing the parade's traditional loop.

Out redoubtable WFMU Radio DJ Chris T and Man-on-the-Street Kay Sera orchestrated the day's events from the reviewing stand, quizzing the antique car owners on their cubic displacement, conducting impromptu and incoherent interviews with Mermaids, Neptunes, and other Sea Creatures, and cajoling the crowd into buying Mermaid Parade tee shirts and Rheingold. Chief Justice Mark Alhadeff, resplendent in robe and wig, did his best to marshal the judges into a deliberative judicial machine (and quell a revolt when it became apparent that many of this years' bribes were not imbibable), but once again, their verdicts will be argued well into the cold weather months.

David Johansen and Karmen Guy were splendid as King Neptune and Queen Mermaid. In two separate rambling addresses, King Neptune linked Siddhartha, Abe Beame, Hot Dogs, Chicago and free perfume together in a display that exemplified the spirit of the Mermaid Parade, while our Queen saluted Mermaids, Mermen, Merdogs, Mercats and the Ocean as the font of life.

After hurriedly rushing through the awards ceremony, our Mayor, escorted by the Billy Bungo Hi-Life Band, lead the King and Queen off the reviewing stand, down 10th Street and across the Boardwalk. They pushed through the crowd and across the Beach so that the Queen Mermaid could cut through the ribbons representing Autumn, Winter, Spring, and finally, Summer. When they reached the Atlantic, King Neptune slowly raised the mercury in the Thermometer so that the water temperature did indeed become Hot, Hot, Hot while Dick turned the Key to Open the Ocean. Fruit flew into the sea to appease the Sea Gods! The King and Queen danced in the surf! And there was rejoicing by their people who followed suit and paddled around in the ocean dodging floating cantaloupes, watermelons and bananas. Another Mermaid Parade had come and gone!

The tentative date for 2006 is June 24, so we'll see you all there!

The Mermaid Parade Ball
After the Parade, many of the revelers headed out to the Mermaid Parade Ball. Now in it's third year, the Ball moved to Velocity, the new nightclub in the former Henderson's Music Hall on Stillwell and the Bowery. In its new and improved form, the Ball featured the music of The Beat Circus, The Cuban Cowboys and Las Rubias Del Norte, as well as performances by Adam 'The Original Man' Rinn, Todd Robbins, Dottie Lux, Veronika Sweet, Little Brooklyn and Molly Crabapple. And what a night it turned out the be, as more than 500 people, many still soggy and in costume from the day's events, packed the club until midnight to enjoy the entertainment soak up the air-conditioning and wind down from the Parade.

New to the Ball was the spacious VIP lounge, which provided a birds-eye view of the club, and allowed our Queen to survey her subjects in relative calm. VIP patrons were feted with Champagne courtesy of Lanson and candied apples courtesy of Phillips's Candy, formerly of Coney Island, as well as a goodie bag containing treats from Brooklyn Industries, Beautiful Twists, Girlprops, Soft Skull, Akashic, and Random House.

Roaming photographers moved through the crowd to record the scene for posterity. For more information check the Mermaid Parade Ball photo site to see how things looked alive, on the inside!