Mermaid Avenue | Amusing the Zillion

Posts Tagged ‘Mermaid Avenue’

Photo Album: Mermaid Avenue Murals and Public Art

Posted in art, Photography, tagged Coney Island, Funny Face, Mermaid Avenue, mural, Public Art, Steeplechase Face, street art on June 21, 2012| 6 Comments »

Mermaid Avenue Funny Face. June 18, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

In Coney Island’s revamped amusement area, hand-painted vernacular signage and public art are rapidly being displaced by custom lighted signs or painted over. Just a few blocks away on Mermaid Avenue, mural painting by local artists is still thriving. Walking from Stillwell Avenue to West 28th Street, ATZ came across work on almost every block, including a Funny Face touting “Parking for Puertoricans Only,” murals memorializing lost friends and a community art project celebrating growth and diversity.

Église Evangelique Haitienne, Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

One block north of Surf Avenue, Mermaid Avenue is the neighborhood’s shopping district, populated with stores, restaurants, churches and community organizations such as Astella Development and South Brooklyn Youth Consortium. As Woody Guthrie famously says in his song “Mermaid’s Avenue” written in 1950: “Mermaid Avenue that’s the street where all colors of goodfolks meet.”

Mural Memorializing Jose Chin, Five Deli Grocery, West 28th Street, Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The mural pictured above dedicated to the memory of Jose Chin is painted on a wall outside of Five Deli Grocery on West 28th Street and Mermaid Avenue. Coney Island artist Kwamin Serguson finished it on April 21, 2012, two years after Jose’s passing at age 22, according to an article in Astella Action News. The mural is one of several poignant memorials to lost youth that can be found on the sides of buildings.

Memorial Mural at Five Deli Grocery, West 28th Street, Coney Island. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Vision of Growth, created by Groundswell in collaboration with South Brooklyn Youth Consortium, is on West 27th Street at Mermaid Avenue. The 15 by 80 foot acrylic on cinderblock mural features images of Coney Island landmarks and highlights the diversity of the community. The project was part of Groundswell’s 2008 Summer Leadership Institute. “Artists Alex Pimienta and Jessica Poplawski worked with a team of youth to create a colorful mural celebrating the people, changing communities, and future of Coney Island,” says the project description.

Detail of A Vision of Growth: Groundswell in collaboration with South Brooklyn Youth Consortium. Mermaid Ave at W 27th St, Coney Island. Photo by Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

The young mural artists from the South Brooklyn Youth Consortium are Mohamed Abdelrahman, Michael Coleman, Shani Coleman, Nicholas Collazo, Ahmathya Edwards, Mashayach Edwards, Michael Ferrera, Angel Garcia, Andrea Gil, Doris Huey, Emily Lew, Carla Pierre Paul and Ken Zheng.

Detail of A Vision of Growth: Groundswell in collaboration with South Brooklyn Youth Consortium. Mermaid Ave at W 27th St, Coney Island. Photo by Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Photo of the Day: Mermaid Avenue at Dusk

Posted in Photo of the Day, tagged Coney Island, Mermaid Avenue, Prince of Mermaid Avenue on June 30, 2011| 1 Comment »

In Woody Guthrie’s delightful song about Coney Island’s Mermaid Avenue, where he lived in the 1940s and ’50s, the songwriter says that he’d never seen a mermaid here. Neither have we. But at last night’s screening of “The Prince of Mermaid Avenue” at the South Brooklyn Youth Consortium at 2811 Mermaid, ATZ asked a couple of kids in the summer program if they were mermaids.

The avenue of neighborhood shops, churches and residences is just one block north of the Coney Island amusement area’s main drag, Surf Avenue. So close, yet a world away. At dusk we spotted this poster for “A Coney Good Time” at the bus stop at West 28th Street.

While there may not be any mermaids on Mermaid Avenue, there once was a prince: The documentary “The Prince of Mermaid Avenue” is about Jimmy Prince, who retired after 60 years at Mermaid Avenue’s Major Market. Charles Denson’s film is screening again today, June 30, at 2 pm at the Coney Island Library, 1901 Mermaid Avenue at West 18th Street.