Woody Guthrie’s children, Arlo and Nora, were the king and queen of last Saturday’s Mermaid Parade. It was the 37th annual Coney Island confab, known for its colorful — and skimpy — costumes. Later that day, the Guthries also unveiled a new sign dubbing the block of Mermaid Ave. between W. 35th and W. 36th Sts. Woody Guthrie Way. The famous folksinger and songwriter lived there in the 1940s, in the Beach Haven complex, with none other than Fred C. Trump as his landlord. As this paper recently reported, some of Guthrie’s lyrics about “Old Man Trump” were recently unearthed, and in May were performed — set to original music — by Will Kaufman at St. Joseph’s Church in the Village. The performance was a fundraiser for The Village Trip festival, which will occur in September.
— Lincoln Anderson
