By Maria Clark
The streets of Hunts Point were teeming with marine life last Saturday, as dozens of young people dressed as mermaids and fish marched in the 6th annual Fish Parade.
The lively sea creatures were joined by canoes that float on land, a pirate ship and a gorilla on a unicycle.
“I love the marching,” said Cecilie Rodriguez,12, as she held a purple umbrella decorated as an octopus.
Bronx School of the Arts students Tatiana White and Yasiera Dowdy, both 9, clearly enjoyed the pageantry.
Kids and parents decked out in homemade costumes made of recycled materials gathered early on June 6 at Riverside Park, where local youth organization, Rocking the Boat, was also hosting its annual Boat launch.
Despite initial worries that the two events coincided on the same day, Rocking the Boat’s director, Adam Green said, “there ended up being a nice flow between the events because of the shuttle service. It would be nice to see the two events work together again like this.”
As canoes were brought out to Riverside Park’s water’s edge, kids and parents representing The Point, the Bronx Charter School for the Arts, Studio 889, and Rocking the Boat opened umbrellas covered with cellophane seaweed.
Jorlene Collazo, 3, won first prize for her home-made costume.
Members of the Classics N.Y Bronx Club joined the parade riding on souped-up Schwinn bikes, complete with stereo systems, Puerto Rican flags, and skull decals. The group has been livening up the parade with music and blaring horns for the past four summers to boost attendance says Carlos Ramos, the club’s president.
“This parade keeps growing,” he said. “It’s great for the community to see what kind of activities are going on.”
“This is really beautiful,” agreed Eulalio Camacho, 58, otherwise known as “Yo-Yo” within the bike club.
Despite the noise and bustle in the streets, below many residents chose to watch the parade go by from sidewalks and apartment windows. Attendance has been a problem in past summers, say parade organizers.
The pirate ship rode in the parade, courtesy of Studio 889
“Getting people out is like pulling teeth,” said Debbie Melendez, the director of local dance school Dancers Dreamzzz. “Maybe more advertising needs to be done ahead of time.”
Although her dance troupe has participated in the Fish Parade in past years, Melendez and Dancers Dreamzzz opted out this summer.
“It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for a parade,” she said.
Ms. Louis Mathies, 58, an assistant with the after school program at The Point, convinced at least one resident to get off their stoop and join the parade. She danced in the middle of the street wearing a bright red lobster hat calling out for residents to join her.
“We got to get more people to join in,” she said.
Despite the wishes of some for a higher turnout, others were happy to have the parade, whatever the numbers.
Jose Andon, 64, a Hunts Point resident of 10 years, watched it pass from the sidewalk.
“This is really pretty and it really seems to motivate the kids to participate,” he said.
A version of this article appeared in the July edition of The Hunts Point Express.