Brownstoner to Launch Weekly Flea Market Next Spring

Back in the mid-90s, we were completely addicted to the 26th Street flea markets in Manhattan. As they were gradually displaced, lot by lot, by the high-rises that now line Sixth Avenue in Chelsea, one of the most interesting slices of city life died. Now, Manhattan is too expensive and, frankly, soulless to recreate anything like that. Brooklyn, in contrast, is the ideal place, in our opinion, to nurture such a scene. With no disrespect meant to the flea market on 7th Avenue in Park Slope, however, there’s certainly nothing currently in the borough that comes close to what 26th Street used to be in either scale or vibrancy. So we’re going to try to create it.

With the great help of Council Member Tish James, we’ve worked out an arrangement with the head of the Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene to use its gigantic schoolyard on Sundays starting next spring to host a weekly flea market. (We’re talking about 40,000 square feet of space—check out the photo on the jump.) The lot itself is located on Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt, walking distance from Boerum Hill, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and Bed Stuy and just a short bike ride away from Williamsburg, Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights. (Sorry if we left your ‘hood out, but you get the idea.) We also like the fact that it’s just a block up from the flourishing restaurant scene on Dekalb, making for a nice destination outing for folks from farther afield.

Although the flea market won’t open until early April, we’ve set up a web site at BrooklynFlea.com where vendors can indicate preliminary interest (update: the registration is working now) and anyone can send in questions and comments. We’ve got plenty of time to plan things, so we’re hoping for lots of reader input. One thing we’re considering, for example, is having some kind of local and organic food court in addition to the antiques, vintage watch and vinyl record dealers. So let us know what you’d like to see by emailing us at flea@brownstoner.com—and please pass this along to anyone you know who might be a potential vendor. We’ve got booths of all shapes and sizes to accommodate everything from the person who knits hats as a hobby to a large architectural salvage dealer.

Thanks and look forward to your input.

Mr. B