Team members dressed as roller coaster cars form the Cyclone coaster as they race through Williamsburg during the 22nd Idiotarod.
Photo by Dylan Christie
They were just rolling through!
The 22nd annual Idiotarod took off on Saturday, Feb. 1, with decked-out shopping carts and costumed teams shambling through the streets of Williamsburg.
The race — which isn’t really a race — drew slightly buzzed participants to the starting line at Cooper Park, where teams showcased elaborately themed shopping carts scavenged from various parts of the city.
“We are looking for shenanigans,” said Idiotarod volunteer Sarah Janjua. “We are looking for bribes; we are looking for [people] cutting corners.”
Janjua, donning a hard hat and a badge identifying them as a “cart safety inspector supervisor,” was happy to report, “No carts today are up to code.”
Cooper Park’s basketball courts were filled with a cacophony of shopping carts and racers.
The CATZ deli cart, inspired by the famed Katz’s Delicatessen and the Broadway musical “Cats,” was outfitted with a pastrami sandwich-making station.
The Coney Island cart, generously slinging nutcracker shots, featured team members dressed as roller coaster cars, collectively forming the Cyclone coaster.
Members of the Cutie Conservation Coven cart, adorned with tissue paper and tinfoil, described themselves as “recycling good witches that care about the world.” The coven planned to pick up trash along the race route and add it into their cart’s design.
The Cutie Conservation Coven found themselves in a standoff with the Vermin Vanguard, whose team “united the three families: cockroaches, pigeons, rats.” With a cockroach-shaped cart, the Vermin Vanguard had one clear mission: keeping New York dirty.
“We want to keep trash on the street so we can have a life source; we want to keep New York City dirty,” shouted one of the pigeons from the Vermin Vanguard.
At the sound of the whistle, some carts bolted from the starting line, while others opted for sabotage, blocking the park exit. A few moved at their own leisurely pace.
Cash prizes were up for grabs, but judges cared little about which cart crossed the finish line first. “If you’re trying to come in first, you’ve missed the point,” Rody, a longtime event organizer, told Brooklyn Paper.
Style and creativity top the judges’ lists, but there are other ways to tip the scales.
“Bribery is highly valued,” said Dr. Sherry Smith, one of the event’s lead organizers. Smith believes the opportunity for people to unleash their creativity and have fun keeps teams coming back year after year.
“January and February are the worst months of the year. You need something to look forward to, and it’s adults getting to be silly. I love it,” Smith said.
The race operates without a formal budget, relying solely on entry fees paid by participants. Most of those funds go toward cash prizes.
After 22 years, the Idiotarod has kept its DIY, chaotic spirit. The event’s Facebook page is littered with posts about shopping cart sightings for contestants to scavenge. Teams and most organizers typically don’t learn the starting location until the night before the race.
“This proves New York is not dead; we are not a sea of strip malls and chain stores. Culture still exists here,” said Anney Fresh, referee and head judge. “There are still scrappy people who can survive the rising rents and the malarkey going on in this town.”
“It’s important to celebrate life and do crazy stuff.”