A year and a half ago, a group of filmmakers went out to shoot a protest. It would be a short little piece, poetic and informed, and go viral among various community groups and activist sites. For me personally, it would also be the first time to work with Meerkats. How could I say no? The project happened to be about the lot of land that sat outside of my window, the Atlantic Yards. I also knew about the controversy that surrounded it and was eager to get involved in the debate. Brooklyn Boondoggle seemed like the perfect fit — work with nice people that had just become my neighbors about a subject all too politically and socially relevant to ignore.

Needless to say, one shoot at a protest turned into days into weeks into a full-blown project for the Collective. And as I am now awakened by bulldozers at 7:45am, protests have turned into endless legal battles into the construction we were all hoping to forestall.

While Brooklyn Boondoggle has screened at various venues and film festivals, it never seemed like the right time to be officially unveiled. It’s inherently difficult to make a fluid subject stay relevant, gutsy and lasting, but we did our best. I’ll be forever grateful for the experience of making it with the group of dedicated people that have become my dear dear friends.

We thank the countless writers, artists, council members and community leaders that continue to voice opposition. We also eagerly await to see the feature doc, The Battle of Brooklyn. And even as the lightweight of our flock, I have yet to turn down a night of going to Freddy’s Bar, a true original and what we sincerely hope to be a mainstay of our neighborhood.

This is for you Brooklyn.