What’s Your Stoop Story?

I love Brooklyn stoop culture.

I didn’t grow up in the city, so I didn’t sit out on the stoop as a kid. (We had a porch, but I was generally encouraged pack my business up and take it into the fenced in backyard.) In fact, my only experience of the brownstone stoop as a child was when I had a twice a day Sesame Street habit. When I got older, my images of the stoop experience were greatly molded by Spike Lee’s movie, Crooklyn. This is my favorite Lee flick, mostly because it’s such a vivid illustration of life in Brooklyn with all of its brownstones and bodegas (RuPaul at 6:17!):

My last experience hanging out on a stoop was at a summertime Jazzmobile concert on Macon Street. The street was blocked off and the children were having a fun time riding their bikes and playing on the sidewalk. It was a perfect summer evening; it wasn’t too hot and humid. My friend Pam and I enjoyed the music and chatted about everything under the sun. Good times!

So here’s my question to you to those of you who grew up in brownstones or those of you lucky folks who currently live in one: what’s the most memorable thing that has happened to you on a stoop? What’s the most memorable thing you’ve seen from your stoop?

What’s your best stoop story?

Full disclosure: I received a bottle of ABSOLUT BROOKLYN and a pretty cool flip camera for writing about stoop life and stoop culture in Brooklyn!