Throngs of marching mermaids sent the City a clear message at this year’s Mermaid Parade: Don’t shrink Coney Island! Fix your flawed rezoning plan!

A few days earlier, Save Coney Island had sent some Mermaids into Manhattan to deliver a simple message to the City Planning Commission: Fix the City’s flawed rezoning plan! But the City Planning Commission didn’t listen, and as a result the future of Coney Island’s famed amusement zone has been placed in grave danger.

So Save Coney Island enlisted the Mermaid masses at the Mermaid Parade. The Mermaids marched en masse with signs that demanded: “Don’t Shrink Coney! Fix the Plan!” They were cheered on by hundreds of onlookers holding the same signs — calling for the City to protect the mermaids’ native habitat.

“Coney Island’s Mermaids will not be seduced by the City’s siren song,” said Save Coney Island spokesperson Juan Rivero. “They know that radically shrinking the historic amusement district is a bad idea, and they know that building four high-rise towers — up to 27 stories tall — in the heart of the amusement area will ruin Coney Island’s open-air, seaside atmosphere.”

UPDATE: There are some great photos on Flickr here, here, here, here and here.