Credit: Getty
Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have worn a costume a time or two when the situation called for it, but he certainly never dressed up as a pirate to march in the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade surrounded by near-naked revelers in pasties and body paint.
Yes, that was Mayor Bill de Blasio you saw on the boardwalk Saturday, decked out in the frilliest shirt New York has seen since “Seinfeld” and brandishing a sword. The mayor was joined by his mermaid wife Chirlane and their teenage children, Dante and Chiara, who together reigned over the proceedings as King Neptune and Queen Mermaid.
The 32nd annual Carnival-like extravaganza was back to full strength after last year’s Sandy-battered parade, when organizers were forced to crowd-fund the event to replace damaged costumes and props.
The festivities drew tens of thousands of onlookers and marchers, many going all out with homemade costumes that earned them the privilege of marching along the parade route, which stretched along Surf Avenue and onto the boardwalk.
Check out some of the best looks in the gallery below:
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