Closing Bell: Round 2 of The Flea on Sunday
As we gear up for the second installment of the Brooklyn Flea this Sunday, here’s another look back at last week’s virgin voyage. The Flea will take place every Sunday—10 a.m. to 5 p.m. rain or shine—at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt Avenues. Vendors…
As we gear up for the second installment of the Brooklyn Flea this Sunday, here’s another look back at last week’s virgin voyage. The Flea will take place every Sunday—10 a.m. to 5 p.m. rain or shine—at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt Avenues. Vendors change from week to week, selling everything from vintage furniture, clothing and antiques to new designs by local makers of everything from jewelry to textiles. More information about the vendors and directions can be found here.
All I can say is that we went last week ( me, my wife, our friend and our two dogs). Nice enough market, but it looked like just that, a market. Vermont it sure as hell isn’t. You want cheap , go to New England, but even there you WILL pay over $500 for an antique chest of drawers. The only complaint we had, was this: we are long time Chelsea flea goers/buyers. We have ALWAYS taken our dog inside. Sunday we were asked, and not so politely, by some putz to leave since it was ” a liability issue”. I have never heard of this in an open market. Indoor markets maybe, but outside? Needless to say I was quite unhappy, it soured my mood to the extent where I just wanted to leave and wished all shitty things on that place. But we took turns watching the dogs and enjoyed ourselves a lot. But I saw PLENTY of people bringing their dogs in while we stood outside with ours.
FYI – looks like Brooklyn Flea is (at least for the moment) the top feature on the NY Times website. Good job Mr. B! I hope to make it there soon!
To the naysayers – 2:32 and some others are right – if you don’t like it, sit on the sidelines for a year. I loved and miss the Chelsea fleas, but I doubt they were great on the first day.
All I can say is thank you Brownstoner for trying. I’ve been considering a move from Chelsea to Brooklyn for a while (clearly I am not a trendsetter), and having a flea to visit on the weekends is yet another reason to try make it happen. Good luck tomorrow!
At Flatbush and Atlantic you would have to ask Bruce. He owns that intersection.
Maybe because the athletic field at BLH was available, and Flatbush and Atlantic is not?????
Maybe because an enclosed schoolyard with a paved surface and enforceable points of entrance and exit is easier to work with, and there are no such places “in a more central area?” Is Ratner giving up a lot here?
Why can’t people just appreciate that a couple of guys and their associates worked their butts off to put together a well run, well thought out operation, something no one else has had the connections, chutzpah or will to do, and the people came in droves?
Yeah, it needs some fine tuning, and I’m sure the individual vendors will also fine tune, and by late spring, those tourist busses will be stopping, not just passing by. This is good for Brownstoner Inc, it’s good for the vendors, it’s good for buyers, it’s good for local merchants, it’s good for the school, and it’s good for the community and Brooklyn.
If it’s not good for you, don’t go.
A Brooklyn Flea Market sounds like a fantastic idea! My only question is why it couldn’t be placed in a more central area. It’s a little out of the way for most Brooklyn. That’s why the 10th Ave Fleamarket in the West 50s didn’t thrive.
Maybe this flea market could be moved closer to a real hub – like Flatbush and Atlantic. That way, EVERYONE could get to it.
Waaah! How dare you bring commerce and entertainment to our neighborhood?! I think living in and around NYC should be akin to living on a ranch in Wyoming. I don care none fer them types that ain’t from around here. Tear down these building and put up some damn fields! Why do we spend money on things we should saving our soup cans for the war!
I’m a regular reader and also a vendor. Judging from most of the comments on this site, I got the impression that readers would prefer to spend their money than refurbish things on their own. Spending $500k+ for renovations, buying $2m properties and hiring someone to caulk a bathtub. Are these the same people crying that there are no bargains? 10:02pm is right. The heyday of Chelsea was 20 years ago. Stop living in the past, man! I just turned down an inexpensive dresser that I could’ve sold for $125 because it would’ve taken up half my van and 10×10 space. Unfortunately, it’s not worth it for me to do that.
flea market = fleecing of Ft Greene. it’s a bargain, not.
Boo Hoo. Wah Wah. It is so awful that people can go and buy what they want at lower prices than they ordinarily would see. How terrible – visitors come to the (my) neighborhood and actually CLOG the sidewalks on a Sunday afternoon. God forbid they might actually spend some money and patronize the local (predatory and horrible – just kidding) merchants. OUCH!!! – Did they get a bargain like we did – paying 1/ 10 the price for an ottoman from DWR???? OK – let the Flea vanish – how great would that be? Then we can go to Tillies without dodging people along the way. And stand in line a few minutes less. Woo Hoo!!! Oh, in case you want to trash me – I have lived in Ft. Greene since 1987. Were you born then?