200+ Brooklyn Navy Yard Tenants Brace for Clinton and Sanders' Impending "Battle Over Brooklyn" at Thursday's Democratic Debate
One Such Tenant, Backyard Toy Company OgoSport, Sees the Irony in Finding Themselves Caught in the Crossfires of a "Political Game" That's Coming to Their Backyard
Before The Brooklyn Navy Yard was chosen as ground zero for Thursday's Democratic debate, TIME reported that the "Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns [were] accusing the other of political gamesmanship". OgoSport, a backyard toy maker behind an award-winning bouncy disk, and one of 200+ tenants in The Brooklyn Navy Yard, see the irony in finding their backyard being adopted by both camps to play their "political games".
In a tongue-and-cheek response to Thursday's debate, OgoSport used their custom-printing service, MOD, to create a bouncy disk with both Clinton and Sanders' faces on it [see attached graphic].
"With all the talk of capturing the NY vote, and both campaigns seeking to claim Brooklyn as their own, it's easy to forget about the actual businesses and residents that are here operating and living on a daily basis", says OgoSport co-founder Jenie Fu. She added, "we're proud that our place of work has been chosen for this debate, and we hope that with our fun MOD design, we can raise our hand in a light-hearted way and remind people that we [the locals] are here, we are paying attention and we care about real issues of substance on a local level."
Both sides have staked their claim to Brooklyn, where Bernie Sanders was born and raised and where Hillary Clinton represented for 8 years in Congress. With tensions building, there's little doubt that Thursday's debate will be both contentious and include a lot of back and forth over who is the true New Yorker most deserving of NY's vote.
Thursday's debate won't be all fun and games for Navy Yard tenants; however, as CNN and NY1 host up to 3,000 attendees, plus additional secret service and required security, media and event staff personel. The Navy Yard sent out an email to tenants Tuesday afternoon with instructions that "the entire area around the [main nearby] entrance will be impassable and [that the] recommendation is to avoid this area all day".
Employees of Navy Yard tenants that typically drive to work, such as several members of OgoSport's team, are opting not to work from within the Navy Yard Thursday due to the debate.
ABOUT THE OGODISK
OgoSport's bouncy disk has won numerous parents and kids choice awards, and has been featured in Smurf's the Movie, The Colbert Report, and the Today Show. The outdoor sportsdisk features a trampoline center, traditionally used by families to bounce balls and play games like Volleyball and tennis, and can also be customized with OgoSport's MOD printing service.
ABOUT OGOSPORT
Headquartered in The Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, NY, OgoSport designs award-winning toys to get kids and families to "Move. Think. Play".
Founded by designers Rick Goodwin and Kevin Williams to promote active play for people of all ages, OgoSport has developed and launched countless outdoor and construction-oriented toys like their popular OgoDisk(featured in the Smurfs movie) and their new OgoBILD Animate, stop-motion animation kit. Over the past few years, OgoSport has expanded to over 2,000 stores in the US and 40+ countries across the globe.
In addition to growing a loyal following of consumers who share in the company's open play philosophy, OgoSport products have also won the attention of the toy industry with awards such as the Parents Choice Award, TillyWig Awards, Dr. Toy Award, Canadian Toy Testing Council, The National Parenting Center Award, and NAPPA Award. For more information, visit www.ogosport.com.
