Are you curious about the once garbage-filled Grove Place's transformation into a game night destination? Well, it seems like it was a big success!

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has been working to give downtown Brooklyn a shot of energy in evenings, and brought vintage games (NES, board games)—and food trucks and Brooklyn Brewery beer—for last night's Grove Alley Game Nite. Photograph Scott Lynch was on the scene and tells us it was "totally fun" and a complete turnaround from its past as a "garbage dump" and "toilet," as one speaker called it. Here's Lynch's report:

All of the board games, all of the NES systems and funky old TVs, and all of the random furniture scattered around the alley were courtesy of Film Biz Recycling, the Gowanus outfit that collects unwanted props and sets and such from film and fashion shoots, as well as theater productions, and donates them to local organizations and institutions, AND recycles what's left back into the system at their crammed-full warehouse on President Street. The music came via DJs Magick Report and Danny Glover, and they were not timid in their selections, nor their volume. Food trucks included Coolhaus, Morris Grilled Cheese, Rickshaw Dumplings, and Hibachi Heaven. And, in a welcome bit of un-nanny-state-ness, the beer was sold in bottles. Glass bottles of alcohol consumed in abundance in a Downtown Brooklyn alley, just because it's fun!
The crowd was everything-diverse and arrived ready to play. Even the crappiest games (Tiddly Winks! Spill and Spell!) were broken out. Turf was laid down for Bocce and Cornhole courts, the video games attracted plenty of cheering spectators, there was LOTS of flirting, and, after a good deal of tinkering, a couple of additional NES systems were projected onto the alley walls. As I overheard one young woman say to her friend, big smile on both their faces, "This is kind of awesome!"