Live from 7th Street NW: Behind the Metro brawl

Story Lab reporters are out in the District's East End tonight, checking out the scene and talking to business managers, tourists, residents, and kids about last Friday's Metro brawl and the sometimes tense relations between teens and others on Seventh Street NW in the heart of the city's new urban playground, restaurant row and shopping strip.

We'll be tweeting here through the evening, and will be back Wednesday evening and Thursday morning with reports on what we've found out about how the area near Gallery Place mall and the sports arena became a nighttime hangout for kids from around the District and how police are handling what appear to be regular fights among those kids.

You can follow what our reporters are seeing and hearing on the TweetDeck below or by following #storylab on Twitter.

We'd love to hear your observations, thoughts and perspectives on why this area has changed so swiftly, your suggestions about how best to capture the scene in stories, and your own experiences while going to events at the Verizon Center, going out to dinner in the Penn Quarter/Chinatown corridor, or going to the movies at Gallery Place. Do you feel energized or threatened by the scene on the street? Have you seen fights or confrontations and how were they handled by police? Is the heavy police presence helping?

Please come ahead with your thoughts and suggestions on the comment board below or by emailing us at storylab@washpost.com, and if you have specific stories to tell about your own experiences, please include a way for a reporter to get in touch with you.