Coney Island Mermaid Parade set to return after ‘urgent financial crisis’

Mer-folk of New York City, rejoice: It appears the 44th annual Mermaid Parade will return to Coney Island this summer after all.

In early March, the beloved neighborhood parade looked like it might be canceled. Coney Island USA, the nonprofit that produces the event, announced it was facing an “urgent financial crisis” and needed donations to fund it this year.

Since then the nonprofit’s GoFundMe campaign has taken in thousands of dollars and blown past multiple fundraising targets.

“The outpouring of support has been incredible,” said Adam Rinn, Coney Island USA’s artistic director, veteran sword swallower and self-described “yacht rock captain” of the Mermaid Parade.

While the organization still hopes to raise more, Rinn said he’s “very confident” it'll bring in enough money to produce this year’s parade. The nonprofit’s GoFundMe page shows it has raised more than $35,000 of a current $40,000 goal.

The Mermaid Parade is tentatively set for June 20. The event is a largely DIY affair. Inspired by traditional Mardi Gras celebrations, parade-goers come dressed in homemade mermaid and sea creature outfits and build huge elaborate floats. Judges give out awards for the best costumes, floats and performance groups.

The parade’s organizers say the nonprofit's fiscal woes have multiple roots.

For one, Coney Island USA spent heavily over the past year to oppose the proposed Coney Island casino project. The nonprofit put out highly produced videos about how the massive casino would change the neighborhood and even staged a fake funeral mourning the potential loss of the Mermaid Parade.

A community advisory committee rejected a developer consortium’s proposal to open a casino in September.

Rinn also said revenues from the nonprofit’s other ventures never fully recovered after COVID. Aside from the Mermaid Parade, Coney Island USA runs a museum, gift shop, circus sideshow and “Freak Bar.”

“People are not necessarily traveling down to Coney Island as much or traveling in general as much,” Rinn said. “Every little thing impacts our bottom line.”

Coney Island USA’s most recent federal tax form lists more than $5.5 million in total assets. But most of that represents the value of its historic Surf Avenue building, an official New York City landmark that was built in 1917.

Rinn said the organization did not consider selling off the building to fund the Mermaid Parade.

“It would mean staging a parade once a year and not having a Coney Island Museum, and not operating the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, and not having a theater for artists to produce shows and express themselves,” he said.

Coney Island USA pays for the parade’s permits, sound and staging equipment, and the staff that plan the event and keep the day running smoothly. Rinn declined to share how much the parade costs to produce every year, but said the $35,000 raised so far “does not quite cover the parade.”

The nonprofit’s GoFundMe page showed as of Monday, nearly 600 people had already donated, in amounts ranging from $5 to $5,000.

“It's heartwarming, is what it is,” Rinn said. “It's understanding that this event, this one-day event, has made such an impact with so many people.”