Scenes from Spike Lee's stoop sale Saturday in Fort Greene

The beloved auteur hung out for hours, signing stuff and happily posing for endless photos

The stoop sale is one of Brooklyn’s great traditions, an idyllic way to hang out with neighbors and chat with strangers all day while also getting rid of a bunch of stuff you don’t want anymore.

But when you’re Spike Lee, one of Brooklyn’s most famous residents, a stoop sale like the one he hosted on Saturday at his 40 Acres and a Mule headquarters in Fort Greene, is a different beast entirely. This is where stoop sale meets block party, with a long line of people eagerly waiting to purchase hats, hoodies, books and, mostly, for the chance to say hello and spend a minute with the revered filmmaker. Lee spent hours mingling with all comers, signing everything handed his way, and posed for photos with everyone, including a few pets, as a DJ blasted Motown and hip hop classics.

“I’ve got to meet Spike Lee,” said James Peterson, who drove all the way from Wisconsin, 17 hours total, just for the stoop sale. “If you get the opportunity to meet greatness like this, you can’t pass it up.” And Peterson did not show up on South Elliott Place empty-handed. “I’ve been doing a project for a while where I make two paintings of people whose work has moved me or been a benefit to the world. And in exchange for them signing one, I give them the other as a gift.”

Artist James Peterson, right, brought a big surprise for Lee (Scott Lynch)

Peterson’s portraits of Lee were enormous, and Lee seemed touched by the gesture. In fact, he proved to be an exceptionally genial host, and everyone we spoke with after their moment with the auteur was effusive about the experience.

“I just had my book of Malcom X signed by the one and only Spike Lee,” said a starstruck Regina Patiño, who came to the sale decked out in a handmade dress, featuring Mars Blackmon on the front and a Malcom X quote on the back. “I had a conversation with him about film production. I go to Brooklyn College, and I just let him know that he’s a great inspiration, especially as a brown student. I was shaking, I was very nervous. I gave him my screenplay, hopefully he reads it, he might not, but he did read the cover letter in front of me.”