Closing Bell: Brooklyn Flea + Urban Arts Festival
It’s been a busy week behind the scenes at The Flea, what with last night’s community meeting and all. The meeting was conceived as a listening session for neighborhood concerns but word leaked out and a number of supporters showed up and it ended up feeling more like a referendum on the market. For a…
It’s been a busy week behind the scenes at The Flea, what with last night’s community meeting and all. The meeting was conceived as a listening session for neighborhood concerns but word leaked out and a number of supporters showed up and it ended up feeling more like a referendum on the market. For a couple of longer reports, you can check out Racked, Gawker or Reclaimed Home. Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Councilmember James and Borough Prez Marty Markowitz by proxy all stepped up to the plate on behalf of the Flea; the suggestions ranged from the incremental and addressable to the not-so-reasonable and deal-breaking. There’s a big NY Times story about it slated for this weekend, so keep your eyes out. The two themes we (and others) kept coming back to were community-building and the importance of nurturing small businesses. Along those lines, we hope that everyone who comes out to the Flea this weekend will also make it over to nearby Myrtle Avenue between Emerson and Grand where the first day of the Brooklyn Urban Arts Market will take place; the four other days are August 10, August 24, September 7 and September 21. The open-air market will feature live music, visual art performances, food from Myrtle restaurants, and about 50 local, primarily home-based artisans, vendors, and entrepreneurs selling fashion, art, accessories and more. The event runs from 12 to 7. First timers attending the flea may want to check out the Flea Blog first and get these essentials under their belt: Flea hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday; it’s located at 176 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn. Closest trains are the C and G to Washington/Clinton. Or you can take any of the number of trains that go to Atlantic Station and make the 10-minute stroll up Lafayette Avenue from there.
Update: The New York Times article, by a reporter who took the time to sit down with us and was smart enough not to get himself kicked out of the community meeting, is here; a Daily News article by a “reporter” who was stuck chewing his cud outside the meeting is here. The most amazing part of the News article is the cherry-picked quote from Councilmember James that gives the impression that she’s against the market when she has championed it from the beginning. Some quality journalism.
Dewitt,
Anyone who thinks Mr. Brownstoner runs the Flea as a charitable organizatoin is, well, not the sharpest blade in the drawer. Congrats on outing the Wizard in your own mind.
My bad Dewitt, you’re right. Ms. Walsh’s comments are perfectly reasonable if you’re anti-semitic.
Ms. Wash’s comments didn’t seem so unreasonable in the Times. This would never happen on a Saturday across from a Temple. Not in a million years.
You got to admit that the revelation that Mr. Brownstoner has self interest is sort of fun. It’s always fun to see the Wizard revealed. Especially one who is so self righteous.
I wonder how Ms. Walsh feels about having the whole city know she’s an anti-semetic NIMBY. Great example of demonstrating the Christian spirit there lady.
here is the link to the NYT article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/nyregion/26flea.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
There is a NYT piece today.It even mentions Ms. walsh and her anti-semitic spew. No wonder the church didn’t want any press at the meeting. the church is not the landlord for the school, which is run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers for the RC Archdiocese. It’s a shame the church is so focused on its own needs to the detriment of the community.
the flea is successful for a lot of reasons, and one look at the mix of crowd and vendors should immediately dispel any notion of how gentrification is “ruining” the neighborhood. the flea is one of the few places where everyone mixes in enthusiastically, in a family setting that really works for everyone. I’ve seen Black, Asian, Hispanic and white families all doing the same thing- enjoying the day together. It also offers young designers and small vendors a great venue- many of them are Black and Hispanic. If the so-called professional Black people of the church really care so much about the Black community, they should see how beneficial the flea really is.
The flea is not an elitist slap in the face of the churchgoers or the Black community of CH/FG. If anything it’s an asset to the neighborhood that is inclusive of everyone. Not all change is good- the Flea is one of those changes that is not only a great benefit, but can help ease some of the racial tensions as the neighborhood changes. It’s free, it’s got shopping, food, kids running around, artists, antiques in a welcoming atmosphere. Since the church is so worried about family values these days, maybe they should take a look at how much better the Flea is at promoting that than they are.
Prediction:
In the late Fall when the Flea actually -does- shut down, only for seasonal concerns and the weather, The What will post that he’s been predicting it all along and that he was right. The difference is that The What has been prediciting the Flea shutting down since before it started and by the time it closes for the Winter, it will have had 4-5 good months to its credit.
Someday the What is gonna end.
I think that many people would agree that the Flea is the best thing to have come to FG/Clinton Hill in a long time. The church members’ near-sighted and outright prejudicial stance reflects the prehistoric bent of the Roman Catholic church on most relevant issues today. A reactionary close-mindedness generally eschewing openness to dialogue, mutual education and respect (see, e.g., treatment of gays). If the Roman Catholic church can’t even begin to open its eyes to social ills that *really* matter, how else are they to react to vendors hawking mid-century furniture and silkscreens on a Sunday!!? It’s the comedy of the absurd. Layer on gentrification and race issues, and you’ve got a nice little NYT piece! Good luck JB and Eric 🙂
Carlton–I see your point to an extent but to put the Flea in one of those neighborhoods you list would be to decrease its immediate viability as an enterprise. It works in Clinton Hill because there is a steady amount of foot traffic in that location already–its a thriving community and a big reason why its a thriving flea market. Maybe enough people would come out from Manhattan and other Brooklyn neighborhoods if it was in one of the less convenient and less traveled areas but that is cutting its customer base down significantly.