The Jamaica Bay painting is a slight departure of from the rest of the Mermaids of North America series. Typically, this series shows mermaids either in an illustration pose or living their lives in a fashion that is separated from their natural habitat. In this case, a mermaid is portrayed in nature and the object that is out of place is a Checker Cab.
The last checker cab was taken out of service in 1999, which always felt like a shame to me. I know it’s silly to lament the loss of something that is made of steel, but I feel like the aesthetic of these iconic cars is something that will never come back. For all of the Checker Marathon taxi cabs that went to the scrap yard, I imagine that one of them made it here, and is well cared for.
