Central Park, the Wonder Wheel, even Pianos—all time-honored NYC pick-up spots. Now add the Flea to that list.

Time Out is correct in scoping out the Flea as a swingin' singles scene: the bleachers are basically a brothel, and half the vendors sell every week so they can check on the "foot traffic." And that's totally cool with us—it's all love yo.

We're #17 in TONY's list/slideshow (above), but if someone knows why People's Pops is relevant to this feature, pls explain.

Ever hook up at ze Flea? Let us know.

Posted by demby at 1:49 PM | Comments (1)

At long last, some classic fall Flea weather is on tap for this weekend. In its honor, we're doubling down on the Hunt this weekend, with four items (we screwed up and there are 3 for Saturday and 1 for Sunday). All are nice and worth Scavenging for. Can you tell we want to see you this weekend?

When you find one of the items above, which can be hidden in any vendor booth, it's yours, absolutely free! Then we post your photo with the generous vendor here on the blog on Monday. Only one winner per calendar month. Items posted every Friday around Noon.

Clockwise from top left:
1. Ice/sugar tongs: 5" long, 1" wide, shiny hematite plating over brass. New/handmade (Fort Greene/Saturday)

2. Surfin' Safari meets hardcore-punk mash-up T. New/handmade (Fort Greene/Saturday)

3. "The Lost Keys": This keychain is host to a family of key charms. What mysterious doors might they unlock? Vintage + Handmade (Fort Greene/Saturday)

4. The Beatles' Hey Jude LP: Original 1969 pressing on Apple Records SW385. (The title is The Beatles Again on the green apple sticker on the record.) Vintage (Brooklyn Bridge/Sunday)

Posted by demby at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

Beatrice ran the esoteric antiques and furniture shop Atlantis (above) on Van Brunt St. in Red Hook, which was a great place to get lost among the ephemera after brunch at Hope + Anchor. She's now doing a lot of prop styling too, and wants to start Fleaing. (We always thought they'd be a perfect fit.) So here she'll be, under the Bridge this Sunday, with "'50s lighting, sets of Pyrex, some furniture, great stuff." Check it. F-29, Bridge/Sun

Kelly describers her online shop Hiberna Curios as a "cabinet of curiosities, specializing in objects of mystery and wonder." She planned to debut her jewelry and art featuring stuff like taxidermy, doll eyes, and antique keys on Halloween, but something came up. So she's starting Sunday, go say a belated boo. E36, FG/Sat

As we mentioned yesterday, Yolanda Ceron of the Red Hook Food Vendors crew and her arepas and chuzos debut in Fort Greene on Saturday. F4, FG/Sat

You've met Doug of Record Grouch at both our Superstar DJ Record Fairs and possibly when he sells vinyl on a Union St. stoop in Carroll Gardens. He was also part of EAT Records in Greenpoint until it began morphing recently. He's got great stuff at good prices, goin' solo Saturday, and is one of a plethora of dope record vendors this weekend. E14, FG/Sat

Paul Vano did the Flea a bunch two summers ago, and once randomly paraded around the market in a tattered tuxedo with a young blonde in a vintage wedding dress for no apparent reason. He's an old (antiques) Garage head, has furniture, smalls, art, all kinds of crazy stuff he collects down in Pennsylvania. He's back Saturday. V15, FG/Sat

Posted by demby at 10:44 AM | Comments (1)

Amidst the ghouls and goblins at the Flea on Halloween, a scarved lass by the name of Rebecca appeared prancing through Rue St. Denis, rummaging through a huge bin of pretty things.

Is this your first time at the Flea?
No, it is not.
Do you come often?
Yeah, I live in the neighborhood so I try to check it out when I can.

What did you buy today?
I bought many scarves.
For?
I use them when I dance. I'm in a dance company and I use them to tie my hair back.
What kind of dance do you do?
Ballet and modern.

So you you're not going to use them in your Halloween costume tonight?
Unfortunately, I have to work for Halloween—so no costume.
Where are you working?
I also wait tables because I dance in a dance company. Haha.
You can't dress up while you wait tables? Not even as a dancer? I bet your customers would love that.
I wish!

Alright, thanks for talking to us, Rebecca! Happy Halloween.

Posted by JessicaBK at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)
Categories: BFF, blog

The Design Co-op is in full swing every week at the Flea, and Lena Corwin has lined up another top roster of top talent for the November go-round. It's never too soon to think gift, and always easy on the eyes in the Co-op tent. Such good stuff! Double-booth B20+23, near the handballs to the left when you come in.

Here's who's on tap starting this Saturday:
Lena Corwin: Lines + Shapes journal, pillows, prints (Weekly)
Deadly Squire: Textiles, housewares (below right) (Weekly)
Hikaru Furuhashi: Knits, stationery (below left) (Nov. 21)
Maptote: Totes with maps (Weekly)
Moontreee Letterpress: Stationery, letterpress, journals (Weekly)
Odette NY: Jewelry (below center) (Nov. 21)
Wayne Pate: Prints (including the awesome Design Co-op poster, above left) (Weekly)
Claudia Pearson: Prints, calendars (above right), illustrations (Nov. 7)
Christopher David Ryan: Prints (Weekly)
Simply Photo: Photographs (Nov. 14)

Posted by demby at 1:00 PM | Comments (1)

Like Meb the Marvelous Marathoner, the Flea food contingent is finishing strong as we head down this season's stretch. (Which reminds us: The last outdoor markets of 2009 will be Nov. 21+22, before we head indoors to 81 Front St. in DUMBO again for the winter, starting Dec. 5+6. And of course the Gifted holiday market kicks off Nov. 27 in Manhattan.)

Anyhoo, this Saturday in Fort Greene Yolanda Ceron (above) of the fabled Red Hook Food Vendors takes a turn by the bleachers for the final three weekends, taking the place of the Vaquero elote (grilled corn) stand, which has packed up for the season. Yolanda, the longest-running Red Hook stand (35 years young!), brings her Colombian specialties like arepas (cheese-filled corn patties), chuzos (grilled skewers of marinated meat, yum), fried pork with cassava, and more to the Flea. Arriba!

We love how Forrest and crew at Choncho's Tacos do fish tacos and fish tacos only. Until now. He's been ladling out a new Mexican chicken tortilla soup flavored with lime and kissed with those hand-ground tortillas for a couple weeks now, and it is mid-fall bliss. Check it. Choncho's is rocking Saturday and Sunday now fyi.

Similarly, the Asia Dog folks are testing out the Sunday waters in addition to Saturdays starting this weekend under the Bridge, so you can double your dog with kimchi/pork belly/sesame slaw/Japanese curry action.

Score Flea-style hot chocolate from Whimsy + Spice (Earl Grey-flavored and perfect) and Nunu Chocolates (spicy style) now that the leaves have turned.

And a quick shout-out to the Red Hook Lobster Pound for its recent mention in the Times Dining section.

Posted by demby at 11:14 AM | Comments (1)

Carter Anderson is always full of tall tales—the way you want a Flea vendor to be. Jess learned about the time he sold baby bottles filled with lead paint to 90 cynical, design-hungry New Yorkers, among other tidbits. Dig the new VOTW format?

Name
My name is Carter Wilson Anderson. Goodness gracious, business names. I have gone under Anderson's Audacious Antiques, Big Time Antiques, Demolicious Antiques when I was in L.A., West of Eden, now I'm going under Artifactual. I just got in bed with some friends and we're doing a new website and a new enterprise together and we're here to clock it deep.

Hometown?
Washington, D.C., the city that kills people.

Where do you live?
I live in Alexandria, which is just outside of D.C. and I have a showroom and warehouse in D.C. as well.

How long does it take to get here?
It's about 3 and a half hours if no one wants to go to the bathroom. Three hours 40 minutes maybe, that's doing 75/80 miles per hour.

What do you sell and how long have you been selling it for?
I have been selling for 22 years. Anything from trash to decorative arts. We like to call the good stuff "eye candy." We like to call the stuff that pays for the good stuff "clutter." We try to bring a mix of both up here, make it accessible and bring a little power—you know, get their attention, rock their world.

What's your specialty?
Industrial and Victorian Garden. I like to sell Garden because it attracts beautiful women. And I like to sell Industrial because it attracts gay men and they pay the most for everything.

What's been your most memorable sale?
That's totally easy. In my early 20s I used to sell at the Chelsea flea market on 26th Street. I would leave the nightclub around 1am and get up to Chelsea around 5am. I used to sell a lot of Architectural and pull down a lot of buildings. One time we pulled all the ceiling tin down from this old supermarket and put it on a box truck. When you buy 2-3000 square feet of ceiling tin and you pull it off, you are left with a pile of lead paint chips. That very same week I bought 94 baby bottles from the '20s. So we are sitting around smoking pot (I did that then), trying to figure out what to do with these baby bottles. And we started putting the lead paint chips in the baby bottles, and I thought, You can always sell cynicism and sarcasm in New York. We were selling those paper weights for 40 bucks each. All 90 of them.

What keeps you coming back to the Flea?
Pretty women and I love Eric and it's just a great Flea with a good vibe. We are trying to get our name out here because New York is the best marketplace in America. It's the center of the world, the only city in America.

What do you do for fun?
I skate board—42 years old and I still skate. And I have a beautiful, wonderful kid and I spend as much time with her as I can.

Got a website?
Artifactural is the website [ed.: we're working on this]. We try to come up every couple of weeks, try to keep it fresh and try not to bring up anything more than twice.

Posted by JessicaBK at 3:10 PM | Comments (0)
Categories: Slideshow, blog

The Dutch Bike Co. folks are back this Saturday and next in Fort Greene with their rock-solid, retro-modern bicyclettes, which everyone loved in their debut two weekends ago.

They're testing the waters to open a Brooklyn shop in the spring for the Dutch-made classic models, including the "Bakfiets" Cargo model (above), which someone bought last time! Susan and pals want you to test-ride their bikes around the block and ask them lots of questions—so go sit and spin.

Of course, if you prefer the vintage route, our man Shane Da Bikejack is holding it down by the bleachers like he does every week. (Shane's got crazy great new records too.)

Posted by demby at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)