My new apartment in Brooklyn comes with a number of advantages, compared to the place in Queens I moved from. It’s not in Queens, for starters. It doesn’t vibrate every time the subway comes past – and one can therefore listen to music with the windows open – and, most importantly of all, it features a spacious roofdeck with beautiful views of the Manhattan skyline, all the way from the Freedom Tower downtown to the Hearst Tower by Columbus Circle and above.

Last night we celebrated the beginning of summer with a barbecue; if there’s one thing men love more than meat, then it has to be playing with fire. We brought along cold beer, a hyperactive dog and summery music, and watched the sun set over the skyline as the clouds rolled in above us to mark the end of the weekend and prepare for a working week that, thankfully, won’t be spent staring longingly out of the window at the blistering sunshine outside.

Then: an idea. The elevator to our roof extends another block upwards in the centre, for the motor room, giving us both a great vantage point from which to take photos and, more importantly, a blank canvas to work with. What’s the fun in having a portable projector, laptops and remote speakers unless you’re going to make the most of them? We tested it out and, sure enough, could get streamed TV shows working, along with plenty of potential for artfully lighting parties and, predictably, making our own shadow puppets. That’s me hanging off my roommate’s gigantic biceps.

But, why limit ourselves to broadcasting on our own building, with a wall that barely stretches 14 feet across? We discovered we can also project across to the building across the block from us, and reasoned that if between the four of us, we couldn’t think of a law or regulation that would prohibit this, nor a reason someone might complain, it was a perfectly valid idea. Assuming we avoid projecting through the windows of the apartments on the left or right hand side, this gives us a viewing screen at least 32 feet wide (and therefore 18 feet high, assuming 16:9), and even allows our neighbours to enjoy the films too. They’ll have to supply their own audio though.

I love Brooklyn.

Xx