There is a certain home at the junction of the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Columbia Street Waterfront District that likes to place seasonal and holiday-themed inflatable decorations outside for the enjoyment of passers-by. This home has provided many articles to this humble online writing magazine, which I listed and linked to in my post on their 2025 inflatable Mother’s Day bouquet (which reappeared in 2026). But for today’s article, I want to take readers back to July 31, 2025, when I published an article on the home’s inflatable bikini-clad gnome, which I took as a peculiar summer-themed decoration. Would the bikini gnome return this year? I will note that I have seen repeats over the years, most notably an Easter Egg creature which has become an annual fixture.
The bikini gnome did not reappear. But something which rivals it in oddness has stepped in for summer 2026.
That, my fair reader, appears to be a shark in an inner-tube.
Moreover, the shark has a snorkel and goggles to protect its eyes.
Why does the shark need an inner-tube and snorkel? We can see above that the shark has gills. Sharks are fish, last I checked. They breathe underwater. This shark’s configuration is raising more questions than the bikini gnome of 2025.
So many questions are being raised that the fact the shark is holding a beach ball with its fin is something of an afterthought.
Despite, or because of, all the questions raised, I applaud Brooklyn’s leaders in inflatable holiday decorations for the summer shark. While their selection of inflatables is always on point, this shark has a certain charisma and magnetism that I dare say would make it impossible to look away.
