They walked the walk!
Denizens of Ditmas Park came together for food, fun, and a neighborly stroll down Courtelyou Road at the Weekend Walk street fair on Saturday, and locals said they were delighted to see residents and visitors getting to know neighborhood stores and eateries.
“It’s good to encourage people to hang out at the businesses instead of just walking home after work,” said Teresa Bailey of Kensington.
The first of this year’s Weekend Walks, which are organized by community group the Flatbush Development Corporation, included musical performances, movie screenings, and mingling at makeshift sidewalk cafes. Out-of-borough visitors said they were wowed by the local offerings that stretched from Coney Island Avenue to E. 17th Street.
“It felt like such a nice community,” said Tcereny Berger, a Manhattanite who came to explore the neighborhood with her husband. “Everyone was coming together with the local store owners. It felt very neighborhood-y.”
Berger says she dined at Middle Eastern eatery Mimi’s Hummus, between Westminster and Argyle roads, before stopping by Cortelyou Craft Beer next door to enjoy a cold brew in the sun and watch the street spill over with diners and leisurely walkers.
“We were watching the neighborhood come alive,” she said.
Local youngsters also got in on the ambulating action. Bailey said her kids loved playing on an inflatable obstacle course and devoured ice-cream from street vendors, but her brood split before a screening of “Back to the Future,” which she said was too mature for her little ones, aged 5 and 7. She plans on bringing them back to the next Weekend Walk on July 18 for a screening of the more age-appropriate “ET.”
