I was there - front row, center, directly in front of the podium. I was actually the 15th person through security, having arrived at the park just after 11am. The energy was positively electric, even well before they started letting us in. The level of energy and positivity at these things is a sight to behold, especially in person.
Even more important than the headliners is the kind of grassroots organizing that was being done simply by people talking and sharing ideas on the line. I had an amazing conversation with a 25 year-old from Jackson Heights, Queens (who was #14 in) that touched a whole range of policy areas - which he knew in surprising detail - and ended with me encouraging him to get more involved outside the campaign and outlining ways he could do that. The Bushwick Berners were present in large numbers and talking about what they were doing with anyone who would listen as well. I think I personally handed out a dozen of my cards over the day.
A couple of the Bushwick Berners bought food for many of the early arrivals, getting #BernieSandwiches from a local bodega. I myself had gotten water from that bodega earlier and warned them to expect a massive crowd - they had no idea anything like that was going to happen, and indeed, it probably never has in decades. When they found out it was a Bernie rally, they were very stoked. I'll bet they made more money in one day than all the rest of the month combined. No one that doesn’t live there really ever goes to that neighborhood. There are no major attractions nearby, except this park, a park in which someone was murdered just a week ago.
The impact of something like that really cannot be overstated. It has an immediate economic impact in a neighborhood that sorely needs it, but it also offers a ray of hope that is needed even more. Hearing Bernie, standing - literally - in the shadow of the projects deliver a rousing speech in defense of the rights of the residents of the surrounding buildings and promising unprecedented investment in the urban core and on affordable housing, even speaking specifically on gentrification not just to the main crowd but to the even larger overflow crowd beforehand, will literally change lives.
For another great take on this and more, I strongly suggest you head over to Wired and read the article that inspired this diary:
Bernie Sanders' Bronx Rally Proves the Power of Live Campaigning