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.
Heather, be honest. You were walking in Park Slope and forgot there was a big hill there, tripped and dropped your laptop, which then rolled down the hill and resulted in your comment being re-posted 50 times.
Oh mama, I hope those vintage Persols are still on sale come August 10. I’ll buy ’em all!
No, Firefox crashed. Although I guess it’s still politically correct to blame it on the cat, so, why not.
Of course it was a gratuitous comment, but at a venue designed to air grievances it’s not a surprising one. I don’t even think it’s all that bad. If she had said, “Baptist” or “Quaker” or “Episcopalian” instead of “Jewish” there would be no story.
But seriously, what is the deal with the relationship between those two schools? And aren’t they run by the same… uh, diocese or whatever?
fsrq- you’ll notice I said everyone has opinions on that 🙂
Sorry heather- I really have to disagree on that- if Jewish people were the problem with the Flea, it would be understandable for her to mention a synagogue. But it was a gratuitous comment and unnecessary to the whole matter at hand. The meeting was not for the community, though- it was for the church members and as the pastor said, a meeting to air grievances to their politicians. And they rejected whatever changes and fixes were offered. So they were definitely not about resolution. I do agree that it is unfortunate it has become such an issue at the expense of the real one, the economics. And true the story of the church and the school is definitely the stronger one.
But that said, the church chose to present the issue as one of it’s convenience over benefits for the community as a whole. Not that they don’t have legitimate beefs- they certainly do. But they went about trying to resolve it in a way that was bound to get people angry and upset.Once they started making comments about Jews, they set it up themselves as a religious issue. And it’s a shame because now it’s very much blown up out of proportion and the church is now seen at odds with the community, local businesses and with a neighboring Roman Catholic school. I just can’t blame th press for that.
I thought maybe your cat walked across the keyboard 🙂
Bxgrl – “Most people here aren’t opposed to change but just want change for the better. ”
Whose definition of ‘better’???
Everything you said could probably be claimed by Brownstoner’s Flea enemies too….
All I am saying is that very few things are black and white and few things are “perfect” – there are trade-offs in everything – unfortunately for Brownstoner’s Flea Market – his opponents apparently aren’t willing to see the subtleties involved – I would argue that Brownstoner’s commentary (own and majority of posters) very often take this same narrow view when decrying that (insert project/change here) will “destroy the neighborhood (or Brooklyn).”
I often think Jon posts articles in such a way as to invite comments and, yes, controversy but I’ve never gotten the impression he has an anti-change agenda at all. His issue- and for most of us, is the quality of the project or change. And certainly everyone has a different opinion on that, but hey, wouldn’t be much of a blog if posters weren’t voicing opinions.
And while new projects don’t necessarily involve tearing down beautiful old architecture, who wants to see Brooklyn filled up with trash construction? Not me. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling many developers go too far too fast and for far too much money. Brooklyn has beautful old and historic neighborhoods- it’s one of the reasons people love it so much. So I don’t see why developers can’t be a bit more cognizant of that fact. Have you seen the rooftop addition to the old Board of Ed building? It’s atrocious- tell me they couldn’t have made that design work better. AY is an architectural, financial and community nightmare. It’s all about ego- not about what’s good for Brooklyn. Ratner could give a rat’s ass about the community.
Doesn’t mean I am opposed to new projects- there are several of them going up in my neighborhood and I am thrilled. Most people here aren’t opposed to change but just want change for the better.
I have no idea how I posted 50 times. And mispelled “anti-semitic.” Oops.
But no, Bxgirl, I don’t think the parishioner who made the comment is even at fault for making it, nor should they need to “self-edit” in a meeting organized by their community for their community. The shame is that the press has used the soundbyte as a vehicle to accentuate the tension in a gentrifying neighborhood — tension that has a lot more to do with economic realities than race, religion or creed.
What I think would be a much more interesting and productive story (and has nothing really to do with religion, despite the Church being involved) is how two Catholic schools in a rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood have reacted to their changing community and how that community can serve the needs of one, or both, or none at all.
I also think posters who try and make this into a religious issue aren’t really doing any better than the anti-semitic parishioner, they’re just more polite about their Catholic bias, than that parishioner is about the Jews.
Bxgrl – I read THIS blog, you know the one that opposes (either directly or through snarky commentary in opposition) – off the top of my head-
Ikea
4th Ave Rezoning/building
360 Smith
Walentas Atlantic Ave bldg (independence Bank)
All residential dev in/adjacent to BBP
Whole Foods
Every new Bank Branch – no matter where
Development on site of old Longshoremens Union Headquarters
Virtually every new buildings in Williamsburg
and of course – Atlantic Yards
Considering not one of the (non-inclusive) developments really involved the destruction of Brownstones or “wonderful architecture” I have to wonder what Blog you are reading…..
If you want to be honest you have to admit that Brownstoner has a decidedly anti-change agenda – which is of course his right – but there is an irony here when it is the Brownstoner himself being (unfairly IMHO) attached as the agent of unwanted change.