Montague Street turned into Brooklyn Heights’ front lawn on Sunday.
Merchants along two blocks of the Brooklyn Heights commercial corridor opened up their doors for the annual Montague Street Summer Space festival. The street fair closed the road to traffic between Clinton and Hicks streets, and in one section, organizers rolled out a temporary lawn down the center. The day was packed with games and activities, but the bubble machine on the green carpet was the obvious winner of Heights dad James Tate’s kids’ hearts.
“They went bananas for the bubbles,” said Tate, referring to his daughters Mia and Zoe.
The grass ran the length of a few storefronts and served as a play area for kids, featuring a toy house and games such as horseshoes and a beanbag toss. Organizers wanted to incorporate a green theme for this year’s event in part to celebrate winning the Botanic Garden’s greenest commercial block award, the head of the Montague Street Business Improvement District said.
“I often refer to Montague Street as an urban oasis, and that really holds true during Summer Space,” said Brigit Pinnell, the group’s director.
At the end of the day, people took pieces of the sod home for souvenirs — or to redo their lawns, according to Pinnell.
Another big draw for the past five years has been a dog show put on by the Brooklyn Heights Association, which this year crowned a border collie mix named Finn as best in show.
“That’s a very popular event,” said Pinnell. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Cate St. John, a Heights resident whose Pekinese Mr. Handsome won “Most Precious Petite Pooch,” said the competition was about more than just the awards.
“It’s a fun neighborhood thing,” St. John said. “It gets people out and interacting,”
Other activities in the offing were a craft table put together by Etsy, a performance from the Brooklyn Ballet Company, and a giant chess board. Pinnell said the fair drew a few thousand visitors over the course of the day.
“It was great to see so many people on the street,” she said.
Tate said his family has attended for the last few years, in part because it lets the kids burn off some extra energy.
“It gives the kids a chance to run around and tire themselves out,” Tate said. “We look forward to it every year.”
