Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest

Coney Island
Brooklyn

Any New Yorker worth his or her salt is well aware of the Coney Island Mermaid Parade that takes place every June. Far less well known, however, is the annual Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest that takes place whenever the Astella Development Corporation and Alliance for Coney Island decides it will. Last year it happened in July, this year in August, next year, who knows? Because this event isn’t very well publicized, if you want to catch it, you need to do regular internet searches come beach time.

This year marked the 23^rd year the non-profit community organization Astella Development hosted the sculpture contest. It wouldn’t be correct to call it a sand castle contest for, while there were several castles, contestants mold all sorts of objects on beach—everything from mermaids to sunbathers to brains (yes, brains). There are several teams who compete every year and while playing in the sand is fun, they take their art serious enough to do practice runs before the big day. Top prize is $400, with second place getting $200 and third $100.

This year’s grand prize winner was Merlin’s Castle, an enormous complex more than four feet high and five feet across that took over six hours to make, was made by relative new comers Tim O’Keefe, Rich Demand, and John Alberga. Last year was their first year entering the contest and they didn’t win anything. But this year their huge castle blew away even veterans like the family of Frank Russo who has competed every year except 2011 when the family’s vacation conflicted with the annual contest. Russo’s family also made a stunning castle that appeared to be crumbling into the cliffs below, but the Alberga team castle made theirs appear small in comparison.

Astella Development, Luna Park, and the New York Aquarium hired professional sand sculptors to create works advertising their businesses. These works, however, were not part of the competition—rightly so as they would win every year and discourage others from participating.

If just some sand sculptures isn’t enough to lure you to the beach (though it should be) there’s also bands playing music, generally with a Latino-Caribbean flavor, women illegally selling the most deliciously ripe mangos cut into flowers, and everyone’s favorite elderly gay man who struts up and down the boardwalk in a bright frock pushing his painted poodle in a carriage while his parrot rides atop his multi-colored head of hair. Brilliant.

And there’s of course the Coney Island Museum which charges a whopping $2 admission and the Coney Island Circus Sideshow—one of the last of its kind—which is well worth the $10 they charge.

A few years ago Coney Island went through a rather rough patch. The Astroland Amusement Park that opened in 1962 closed shop in 2008, Mayor Bloomberg was pushing for the construction of luxury condos via the dreaded eminent domain clause, and there was talk of tearing down the defunct 1939 World Fair Parachute Jump. Locals rallied under the cry of “Keep Coney Island Weird,” but for a while Coney Island was just a bit sad. Cheap vendors set up tents in parking lots and nearly half a dozen competing sideshows attempted to push out the original Sideshows by the Seashore. Thankfully, in 2010 Luna Park opened its doors with several shiny new rides. Since then the vendors have disappeared, the parachute jump has been refitted with new lights, and there’s even a new roller coaster in development. Not to worry about the Cyclone, however—it and the Wonder Wheel are protected as Historic Landmarks, and the steep price for riding them pays for their continued upkeep.

Despite taking a beating by Hurricane Sandy, Coney Island is on the up-and-up. There’s even fancy new elevated bathroom units by the beach, solar-powered charging stations, and the fully-restored 1919 B&B Carousell (don’t even get me started on the spelling—apparently the guys who bought it in the 1930s thought they were being clever when they renamed it).

You can’t see the sand sculptures anymore this year, but Coney Island isn’t going anywhere. Keep your eyes and ears pealed for next year’s contest.

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