Exclusive | Coney Island Mermaid Parademakes a splash with its celebration of creativity: Its so refreshing

The Coney Island Mermaid Parade made quite a splash once again.The 43rd annual event — the nation’s largest art parade — welcomed revelers close from the Big Apple to around the world, many donning over-the-top aquatically-themed costumes for the tropical festivities.“It’s a great expression of people’s creativity,” gushed Noella Owen, 53, of Brooklyn, who attended with her two children, aged 11 and 12.The trio, who show up annually, hand made their marine-centric ensembles.“My kids are dressed as krill and they wanted me to be a blue whale because of their fat jokes,” Owen said.The joyfully unconventional parade kicked off at 1 p.m.and the crowd quickly swelled to 30,000, which included marchers, spectators and those on the boardwalk, according to police.Caroline Northrop, 44, a public school teacher from Atlantic Highlands, N.J., also expressed her love for the unique “celebration of creativity.”“[It] shows so many people are still creative even with AI everywhere, it’s so refreshing,” said Northrop, who donned a “woodland enchantress” outfit decorated with fake mice.Victor Gonzales, 39, a civil engineer who lives in Queens, dressed as a lion fish, and said it took him one month to painstakingly create the costume.“Because I have to sew, I have to do this structure.

I have to design the makeup as well.Today, [it took to get dressed] probably about two and a half hours … I have to glue on the paper things,” he explained.Each year, a new King Neptune and Queen Mermaid are crowned — Ukrainian-American singer and Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz and Bed-Stuy based pornstar Queenie Sateen were awarded the day’s honors.Hütz, who has been living in New York since 1997, was not only finally able to attend this year, but take on the venerable title.“Every year I hear about it and … some kind of a big splashy burlesque action … and I’m always on tour,” he said.“And all these years go by like that,...