Block Party in South Brooklyn

In December 2019, the Van Alen Institute decamped from its longtime Flatiron home to the fast-transforming banks of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal. The onset of the pandemic a few months later put their usual programming on hold, including a proper public introduction to the neighborhood.

The Van Alen Block Party hosted on Saturday—nearly two years after the move—brought that much-anticipated fête to a close. There, on the cobble-stone, dead-end intersection of Bond St. and Sackett St., stakeholders from across the neighborhood converged to celebrate the last gasp of summer. Several local dance troupes and bands, such as the Gowanus Wildcats Drill Team and La Cumbiamba eNeYé, as well as DJs Niara Sterling and Scribe, kept the party going. To the side, Brooklyn-based artist Elijah Anderson painted a large-scale, doodle-style artwork with the help of partygoers; and local groups Gowanus Mutual Aid and the Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op made themselves known to passersby.