Recently, the second Semi-annual Weekend Walk took place on Kings Highway from McDonald Avenue to East 4th Street. The event was brought to the community by the Kings Highway Beautification Association, or KHBA for short, in partnership with the Department of Transportation or DOT.
KHBA is dedicated to assuring that the streets and buildings of Kings Highway, Avenue P, and Avenue U in Brooklyn, from McDonald Avenue to Ocean Parkway, are clean, presentable, and inviting. KHBA is to thank for the periodical removal of graffiti from buildings and storefront gates, for high end litter baskets that were purchased and placed on every corner to avoid littering, for the sweeping of sidewalks daily, and much more
KHBA works closely with several government agencies to accomplish all they have done thus far and continue to do for the district they represent. The DOT is one of these agencies, and they approached KHBA with the proposal to host a Weekend Walk. The idea was to have a day to close down traffic and give the streets to the neighbors and pedestrians. This is just what KHBA did
During the hours of the Weekend Walk, the streets were closed to cars, trucks, and busses, and open to the public to come enjoy the festivities. Holon Middle Eastern Grocery Store set up a large barbecue station at the heart of the event. There was a moon bounce, an inflatable obstacle course, and a giant slide, with free admission for all! Children enjoyed balloon art, which was handed out by clowns as well as face painting. There was also an arts and crafts station where children could make spin art with paints
The police department and fire department set up booths to interact with the public and to convey some safety knowledge to them. Firefighters, who were stationed alongside a fire truck, gave out replacement batteries for fire alarms, coloring books, and other fire-safety related goodies. The police officers set up an experiment for adults to participate in. This is how they conducted it: a police officer asked a participant to put on hazy smudgy goggles and attempt to walk down a straight line, pick something up off the floor, and then catch a ball. The idea was to replicate a person’s vision while intoxicated. Since most participants found these seemingly simple tasks quite difficult, the police felt they made their case and point: if you can’t walk a straight line in dirty goggles, you definitely should not attempt to drive a vehicle when drunk.
An option of bright blue sunglasses or a flashlight was offered to the participants for being good sports as the policemen taught them this valuable lesson
It was truly a great day for the community to come together and enjoy some family fun. The city and neighbors were grateful to Kings Highway Beautification Association and the DOT for this wonderfully successful day!
