Gela Buchbinder celebrated her 101st birthday on Saturday as only a true Brooklynite could: by marching in the annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
Dressed in a hand-crocheted mermaid costume she made herself, Gela eschewed a wheelchair made to look like a throne and walked down the boardwalk, waving to scores of newly-adoring fans.
She was one of thousands of glittering mermaids and sometimes-scandalous sea creatures who flocked to the People’s Playground for the 44th annual Mermaid Parade, a celebration of the neighborhood and its people.
Gela Buchbinder celebrated her 101st birthday at the parade. Photo by Erica Price 
The crowds went wild for Gela.Photo by Erica Price
The idea to celebrate at the parade came from Gela’s granddaughter, Sarah. For the last few years, the family has thrown big celebrations at her home in New Jersey. After her blowout 100th birthday party last year, Sarah told her, “Grandma, I love you, I’m so glad I could do this for you, but for your 101st, you’re going to be a mermaid,” she told Brooklyn Paper.
It just so happened that this year’s parade was scheduled for June 20, the same day as Gela’s birthday.
“She agreed to go along with this crazy idea, having absolutely no idea what it entailed,” Sarah said.
Gela makes all her own clothes, Sarah said, and crocheted her blue-and-green mermaid outfit herself. Sarah created a sequined green mermaid tail and shell top for herself and marched along with her grandma, accompanied by her father — Gela’s son — and a few close friends.
Gela was accompanied by her granddaughter Sarah (right) and other family members. Photo by Erica Price
When they set off on the route, Gela was unsure, Sarah said. None of them knew quite what to expect from participating in the parade for the first time. But they were immediately flooded with cheers and attention.
“As we went on, you could see she just felt more confident,” Sarah said. “She was blowing kisses, she was dancing and she was waving, and people were just loving it.”
Gela still walks a mile a day, lives independently and takes exercise classes, Sarah said. They fashioned the royal wheelchair just in case.
“We made the wheelchair just because it’s hot and it’s long and I wanted her to be comfortable, and she wanted none of it, she wanted to stand up and wave to the crowd,” Sarah said.
Thousands of marchers and spectators filled the streets and boardwalk. Photo by Erica Price 
Thousands of mermaids and sea creatures filled the streets of Coney Island for the parade.Photo by Erica Price
Gela is a “powerhouse and a survivor,” Sarah said. Born in Poland, she is a Holocaust survivor who moved to Brooklyn with her son and husband after the war and lived there for 30 years before relocating to New Jersey.
Before the parade, as the family waited in the shade in front of a local stop, dozens of paradegoers approached to tell Gela she was an inspiration and wish her a happy birthday, Sarah said, moving Gela to tears.
“It was the most fulfilling moment of my life, seeing her just eating up the spotlight and seeing everyone just be so inspired and loving, calling her a diva and an icon. It was so great. I am just in awe of how lucky I am,” Sarah said.
New Yorkers celebrate life, friends at the Mermaid Parade
What was Gela’s first Mermaid Parade was Alix Michel’s 25th.
The Queens native said she can’t remember how she and her friends started attending the parade – or why they started dressing up and taking part a few years later. The size of the group has waxed and waned over the years as people moved away, or took up new responsibilities related to their families or careers, Michel said, but they are as passionate as ever.
This year, Michel’s group of ten chose the theme “Ziggy Starfish,” an ode to David Bowie (or, as she said, the thematically-appropriate David Buoy.) They donned spiky red wigs and the iconic jagged red face paint Bowie wore on the “Ziggy Stardust” album cover and danced down the parade route.
Alix Michele and her friends dressed up in homage to David Bowie.Photo by Erica Price 
One of the Bowies applying their makeup before the parade. Photo by Erica Price
“We have professional performers that put together the dance routine,” Michel said. “We have people that are in the music industry that help to edit the sound so it’s pretty seamless … We have a bunch of talented people in our group. I’m thankful every day that I get to hang out with these people, because they are so much cooler than me.”
Three of her friends flew in from California this year, she said, and the group had even more people supporting them along the way. Of the 25 years they’ve been attending, this year was one of the best, she said.
“The joy in all of the picture is real. It’s is a joy to be a part of it,” she said. “The Van Wyck is finished, the Knicks are the champs, and we did the Mermaid Parade, you know what I mean?”
Michel moved away from the city and then returned, and loves to support Coney Island and all of its small businesses and artists. Austin, Texas, has the slogan “Keep Austin Weird,” she said, but she’s more concerned with “keeping New York, New York.” The Mermaid Parade is a big part of that.
An aquatic stiltwalker paraded down Surf Avenue. Photo by Erica Price 
Adam Rinn, artistic director of Coney Island USA (center) marched down the parade route. Photo by Erica Price
“New York is a city that just welcomes everyone, and that’s part of its charm and its joy, and all of the cultures that, new or established, people that come here,” she said. “It’s a joy to celebrate everything that is part of that.”
Sarahrose Petrick has also felt welcomed by the parade.
A sculptor who works in TV and film, Petrick has been dressing up for the parade for a few years, she said. She used to dress up with her partner, she said. Two years ago, she had to take a break while being treated for cancer, and she and her partner broke up.
Little mermaids watched the procession go by. Photo by Erica Price
“The following year … because my ex and I had broken up, [and] I didn’t have the person I usually go with, I started making these big kind of costumes that were fun and kind of crazy,” she said.
Last year, Petrick dressed up as a giant seagull head with little legs and a cigarette in its beak, she said.
This year, she — along with friends Alex Hollenbach and Jim Tozzi — used foam and rubber to create a giant container of fries from Nathan’s — with a twist. Petrick hates ketchup, she said, and loves horror movies, including the classic “Carrrie,” which is turning 50 this year.
So she created a ketchup bottle that dangled above her head, pouring glittering fake ketchup onto the fries like the pig’s blood from the film.
Sarahrose Petrick crafted a foam-and-rubber French fry costume. Photo by Erica Price
“The idea of pig’s blood being ketchup is pretty funny, because I hate it so much,” she laughed.
Everyone wanted photos, Petrick said, and she had to put the 50-pound costume on and off repeatedly as she waited for her turn to march. Once she was on the route, she said, the crowd cheered for her
“It was like the Beatles, people were like, screaming for it,” she said. She had made little resin French fries to hand out along the route.
Participants said the parade is welcoming to all, and a critical part of living in New York City. Photo by Erica Price 
One paradegoer dressed up as a giant roach.Photo by Erica Price
This year’s march felt a little different, she said.
“It felt like there was a lot of people who stepped out of their comfort zone and decided to go alone, and decided to figure out a costume and be there by themselves, even though it was intimidating,” Petrick said.
She attended solo for the first time in 2025, after her breakup, her way of saying “life goes on, you got to live it,” she said.
“People are very welcoming to that, they will make you feel comfortable, and not weird,” she added. “There’s a lot of events that happen where you feel excluded if you don’t know anybody … This is such a great community. You can go alone and people will help you apply your sunscreen and make sure your wig is on and all that stuff, and we were doing that for people, and people were doing that for each other.”