Nearly 90 homemade soap box cars built from recycled materials raced down 17th Street as the South Slope Soap Box Derby returned for its 18th year. The event functioned as a culmination of KoKo NYC's summer programming and celebrated creativity, innovation, and community. Vehicles were designed and assembled during week-long workshops and judged on speed, engineering, design, and creativity by a panel of local experts. The lineup reflected bold imaginations with names like Pizza Rat and The Spaghetti Meowbile. A few cars crashed or fell apart mid-race, prompting gasps, but only minor spills occurred and no serious injuries were reported.
Dragons, pizza rats and spaghetti-powered machines hurtled down 17th Street on Saturday as the South Slope Soap Box Derby returned for its 18th year, drawing families to Brooklyn's most imaginative race. Nearly 90 homemade soap box cars built from recycled materials hurtled down the slope to cheers from hundreds of friends, family and fans. The annual derby, a culmination of KoKo NYC's summer programming, has become a South Slope tradition, celebrating creativity, innovation - and just the right amount of chaos.
The vehicles, designed and assembled during week-long workshops, were judged on speed, engineering, design, and creativity by a panel that included Christie Hodgkins, former Education Director of KoKo NYC; Moustafa Hassan of Park Slope Hardware; Denis de Verteuil, Senior Program Manager at NYC DOT; and Jay Kumar, chef and owner of LORE. This year's lineup of cars showcased the kids' wild imaginations, with names like the Creeper Mobile, Chicken Jockey, Pizza Rat, The White Whale, Bone Crusher, and The Spaghetti Meowbile, among others.
"There are always a few crashes," Wuhrer laughed, though none have ever been serious. She believes builders have improved over the years, thus picking up more speed in the race. "They're all a little extra fast," she said of this year's builds. "I think there's a lot of good builders nowadays." Spectators gasped as one racer plowed through the finish line and collided with the flag waver's ladder. Still, aside from a few minor spills, no one was injured.
Collection
[
|
...
]