Summer break ended on a speedy note for young racers who participated in the 17th annual Soap Box Derby on 17th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues in South Slope on Aug. 24.
The racing action, presented by Open Source Gallery and KoKo NYC, was the highlight of the latter’s summer workshop program, where kids designed and built creative gravity-powered soap boxes from recycled materials. They also learned how to construct engineering features like steering and brakes from KoKo NYC’s teaching artists and teen counselors.
Monika Wuhrer, co-founder of Open Source Gallery, told Brooklyn Paper that it was “fun” supporting the kids’ ideas and projects.
“They come up with very, very unique ideas,” she said.
A few hundred spectators lined both sides of the Brooklyn street-turned-race track, cheering on the drivers as they raced downhill in their contraptions from the pole position at the top of 17th Street to the finish line. A four-panel jury had their work cut out for them as they judged the 60 entries — among them Anti-Anteater, Swamp Thing, and the Geometrical Denominator — on speed, design, originality, and engineering from 1 to 5.
All soap boxes made it to the finish line without difficulty, except for “The Caribbean,” which had a delayed start due to technical problems. Shortly after leaving its pole position, a wheel fell off, crushing pilots Sebastian and Hank’s dream of placing in the top tier. However, teaching artists and teen counselors stepped up and carried the soap box — along with its drivers — across the finish line, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Nine-year-old Ruby Giles scored a perfect 5 in each category and placed first in the Grand Prize category with her “Super Skate” soap box, inspired by her pair of roller skates. It was Ruby’s second time participating in the program and the derby, and she was thrilled about the perfect score.
“I was like, ‘Are they going to do five again? Please do five again,’” Ruby told Brooklyn Paper.
Joshua Hung placed second in the Grand Prize category with his airplane design titled “Red Baron.”
“I really wanted to do an airplane,” Hung said. “So I thought of the Red Baron, the famous fighter from World War I, and I painted it red with black stripes and added a propeller. And it fits together.”
Waylon Douglasson raced down the hill in a soap box titled “Tiger.” It was Waylon’s inaugural race, and he told Brooklyn Paper he would be back next year.
“I wanted to make something like a sports car,” the 10-year-old said. “We made the body, and then I added some stuff to the front of it.”
Sal, who watched the creative spectacle with her friends Connor and Tess from the sideline, said she learned about the event on social media.
“I’ve seen soapbox races online, and I think it’s so cool to see that there are kids doing this. It feels like a block party,” Sal said.
Her friend Tess added, “These kids are able to be creative. [The derby] feels very community-oriented. It’s not like a spectacle. Everyone knows each other.”
Connor thought it was an exciting event.
“I grew up on Long Island. We didn’t have anything like this. I think it would have been a lot of fun to have something in my neighborhood that was similar to, like, an event like this,” he said.