Arcade to host video game telethon to stay open
BY DEAN MOSES
A traditional sign of the
holiday season, pop-up markets
across New York have
had to cope with the COVID-19
pandemic — keeping shoppers
safe while also giving businesses
a chance to succeed in
diffi cult times.
This year, Brookfi eld Properties
erected its fi rst-ever
Holiday Village at Metro-
Tech Commons in Downtown
Brooklyn. The main plaza has
been transformed into a socially
distant winter wonderland
that opened during the
late afternoon on Dec. 2.
The courtyard is lined
with elaborate ice sculptures,
with a gigantic Christmas tree
adorned with an assortment
of lights and baubles serving
GAMES
Wonderville is located at 1186
Broadway in Bushwick. Its
COVID-19 hours are from 5 to
10 pm from Tuesday through
Sunday. For more information,
visit deathbyaudioarcade.
com/fundraiser.
as the centerpiece of the festive
display. The chilled statues
are shaped into a collection
of animals both mythical
and natural, including snails,
reindeer, hawks, and even a
Sasquatch.
Surrounding this fencedoff
plaza stands a row of stalls
where arisen merchants have
setup their wares.
Corinne Wright’s outlet
rests on the far end of the
square, where she represents
both Aech & Babu and Da
Spot, designers of handmade
clothing. Wright is excited to
be a part of the holiday village
and everything it represents.
“With COVID, the open air
is the safest bet for everyone,
so while I am excited to introduce
COURIER L 26 IFE, DECEMBER 11-17, 2020
this new brand into the
world, I want people to be alive
in 2021 to enjoy it. Also, being
able to do something festive
and fun after such a crazy year
just felt like the right thing to
be a part of,” Wright said.
While sellers like Wright
are thrilled to unveil their
brands, others like Cassandra
Lamb, who for the last
two years has been onsite at
GAME ON: An overhead look at the now socially distanced arcade Wonderville.
Photo by Alex Mitchell
the now terminated Union
Square market, are just happy
to be able to make sales after
months of shutdowns and canceled
events.
“COVID defi nitely affected
initial plans of what we were
going to do, like Bryant Park
and Union Square were canceled.
It took a toll on what
your plans were, but everybody
had to learn how to pivot
and fi nd a new path,” Lamb
said. “We were like, ‘What
are we going to do now?’ when
Union Square was canceled,
but we are here now and this
is great.”
The holiday market is made
up of more than 25 mostly borough
based vendors, who sell
everything from beauty products
and imaginative fashion
to plants and wine.
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Calling all gamers — you
now have the chance to become
a hero for one of Brooklyn’s
most unique small biz.
Wonderville, an independent
arcade and bar in Bushwick,
is entering every cheat
code it can fi nd to overcome
COVID-19’s disadvantages
with a virtual, gaming fundraiser
on Sunday, Dec. 20 from
noon until midnight designed
to keep the games going.
Streaming on Twitch with
the partnership of nonprofi t
Death By Audio, this fundraiser
is much more than just
a virtual game-a-thon. There
will also be live concerts
streamed in a customized
Minecraft world, interviews
with game developers and arcade
booth creators, and an
appearance by local state senator
Julia Salazar.
Wonderville owner and
Death By Audio board member
Mark Kleback is no stranger
to this kind of crowdsourcing
— that’s how he opened the art
space to house independently
created games in May 2019.
“The fi rst eight months
were great,” Kleback said,
adding that Wonderville was
on its way to being debt free
before COVID-19 happened.
All things considered, Kleback
says his arcade space has
been relatively fortunate to
survive up this point, thanks
in part to a fi ercely loyal community
of patrons and creative
ways to both socially distance
and sanitize games, such as
utilizing backyard space for
arcade booths.
Now, however, the arcade’s
survival comes down to more
than just creative layout.
The goal now is to raise
$30,000 for half a year’s rent via
the gamer telethon, an ambition
that’s already been 14 percent
accomplished from early
donations, the owner said.
More than aiding the oneof
a-kind bar through a universally
turbulent time, donations
will also be going to keep
these games in a public space
as opposed to being circulated
around the nation in temporary
exhibits.
Wonderville’s collection
is a non-commercial one, so
there’s no Pac Man or Street
Fighter machines. The arcade
instead boasts exclusive and
independently made booths –
such as VEC9.
One plays as a 1980s Soviet
Union bomber attacking
American airspace in a threelevel
affair from San Francisco
to Chicago, and then fi -
nally New York to drop the big
one using an array of lifelike
controls.
Its super-realistic controls
were designed by programers
who had previously worked
for Lockheed Martin, and its
only one of two VEC9 booths
still in existence.
Other less hostile but fun
games include the highly competitive
motorcycle runner
game Black Emperor (which
Kleback will be drumming
the theme of during the fundraiser)
and Particle Mace, a
staple multiplayer game inside
of Wonderville.
These aren’t the kinds
of games that can be simply
downloaded and played on a
couch; they’re something that
can only be accessed inside of
the Bushwick gamer haven —
just as Kleback intended.
As a child of the 1980s
golden age of arcades, Kleback
wanted to bring back such
an “in person experience” to
the gaming world, which has
turned into gamers utilizing
mostly living headsets to play
interactive games.
But Wonderville offers
more interactivity than just a
gaming platform, as a patron
understands from the second
they enter the front door —
which is a video game in and
of itself.
Now, it’s up to the virtual
world to help Wonderville
power up and beat COVID-19
on its last life.
Play for their life
MetroTech Commons opens fi rst-ever
holiday village in Downtown Bklyn
BROOKLYN
Holiday happening
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: (Left) Belle
Waera was happy to be able to sell
her wares at the Holiday Village at
MetroTech Commons. (Above) An
ice sculpture at the holiday market.
Photos by Dean Moses