WATCH: Bernie Sanders Holds Brooklyn Hometown Rally

UPDATE, Friday, 5 p.m.: We're Live From Bernie Sanders' Greenpoint Rally

MIDWOOD, BROOKLYN — Well aware that one-sixth of the New York State's registered Democrats live in Brooklyn, presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, currently trailing Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, announced he would hold two impromptu rallies in New York City's largest borough Friday afternoon. (Ahead of the April 19 primary elections in New York.)

The first rally was fittingly set on quaint East 26th Street between Avenue P and Kings Highway in Midwood, Brooklyn — although Sanders calls it Flatbush — outside the brick apartment building where he grew up.

James Madison High School, where Sanders was educated as a kid, is situated just down the block.

Video of Sanders' speech is included above. (We'll keep this post updated with the best-quality footage we can find, so if the video isn't working, check back.) And below are some dispatches from the scene, with reporting by Patch's own John V. Santore.

1:30 p.m.

Arrivals of the eager and the angry.

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind is here, raising a fuss about Sanders' Israel- and Palestine-related comments — including a vast overestimation of civilian deaths in the 2014 Gaza war — in that notorious New York Daily News interview earlier this week. Sanders is now "the hero of terrorists today," Hikind says. "This is one of the worst blood libels I've ever seen."

Also here early: Two Bangladeshi teens currently attending Sanders' old high school. They're holding matching "Bernie for President" signs. Why are they stoked on Sanders? "He'll give free tuition for colleges," says Ahmad Isfar, 18.

Isfar's friend, Fardin Zaman, also 18, says he likes Sander's "attractive personality. He's an honest man."

2 pm.

A line of around 300 people now stretches two blocks from the rally entrance at Avenue P and East 26th St. The crowd is pretty diverse so far, and reflective of the neighborhood: Orthodox Jews, Muslims, black residents, white residents. The crowd is veering more young than old, though, with a few awesome exceptions. (See below.)

Some more cuties from the line:

2:45 p.m.

The rally kicks off with a couple short inspirational speeches from campaign volunteers, and one from on-hand celebrity Mark Ruffalo.

2:55 p.m.

It's Bernie's turn. "I grew up in this community, and I remember it very well," he says, to wild applause.

Throughout his speech, Sanders touches on the drinking-water crisis in Flint, Michigan; climate change; and fossil fuels versus sustainable energy.

He says past movements like the civil-rights movement and gay-rights movement are proof that America is capable of another "political revolution," under his lead.

"The point is, when we stand together, and when we have a vision, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish," he says.

Sanders makes sure to remind the crowd that there's "a Democratic primary coming up soon."

"We can win this primary!" he continues. "If we win here, we will win other states. New York will help us make it to the White House. And that's what we need to do... not just to elect a president, but to transform a nation."

3:10 p.m.

After around 15 minutes of Sanders speaking, spitting and waving his arms in front of some gorgeous, blossoming spring trees along East 26th, he is gone — presumably off to Greenpoint, where he'll be speaking later this afternoon.

From beginning to end, Sanders' much-hyped hometown rally has remained relatively small — in the low hundreds, at best — if enthusiastic.