Brooklyn Flea

It was a chilly, sprinkly April 6 at ye olde Bishop Loughlin High when the Flea emerged into the real world--and it was welcomed warmly by some 20,000 new friends. The rain magically held off, vendors never quite caught their breath, and of course Marty Markowitz was there for a Brooklyn cheer. No one knew what to expect, no one knew quite what it was, and a year later we're still scratching our chins figuring out just what it is. In essence, it is what it is.

This weekend marks our first birthday, and the Flea thanks you for ushering us into the second of what we hope will be many years of fun and friendly commerce in the greatest big town anywhere. How do we love the Flea? Let us count thee ways...

Thanks again to Jess for another stellar Dumbo slideshow. The Flea has slipped into a nice positive vibe every weekend. Thanks to all for being part of it!

NOTE: Our signs don't reflect it yet, but the DUMBO Pop-Up has been extended past this weekend, and will continue Saturdays and Sundays until April 12. The Fort Greene Flea returns Saturday, April 18. The Dumbo markets will continue on Sundays only starting April 19. Fort Greene, Saturday; Dumbo, Sunday. Say it, learn it, love it.

This week's new vendors feature a number of Fort Greene Fleasters finally catching on to DUMBO--er, returning to the fold at the winter pop-up.

T-shirt designer Peter uses a number of Brooklyn-centric landmarks--the Kentile Floors sign (above, right), roof water towers--in his Live Poultry line. He'll be joined by lovely Laura and her Bramble Boutique collection of original 1940s-'60s Alberto Vargas for Playboy prints (above, center), reproduction 1950s cars, vintage styled hair accessories and jewelry. A heady mix! 81 Front #15 Sat/Sun

Abby calls his classic-toy collection The Flubber Gallery, and he's got cartoon-heyday figurines galore (above, left), plus all sorts of memorabilia that ushers young and old alike onto Memory Lane. 76 Front #23/Sat; #15/Sun

Jason has really strong, eye-catching designs for his Paste T-Shirts line, and as he's been dying to get into the Flea for months, we encourage you to share in his enthusiasm. All handmade and nice, etc., subtle to silvery colors, nice stuff. 81 Front #27, Sat

Peter Napolitano, the interior designer with a big storage space of colorful fun housewares, makes his way to Dumbo this Saturday. Think enamel crock pots, ceramic owls, mid-century glassware. Classy, simple, usable. 81 Front #29, Sat

Jenn (Amy of Birdhouse Jewelry's sister!) launched her penny-candy stand (right) last weekend, and it was a big hit. Bubblegum cigarettes with powdered-sugar smoke? Diamond ring pops? Mary Janes? Pixy Stix? Red fish? You get the idea. Hey, according to the Times, candy is cool! 81 Front #41, Sat/Sun

WrecordsByMonkey is back with their snazzy bracelets made from recycled record vinyl in all kinds of cool designs, as well as jewelry and accessories. Always a hit with Fleasters. 81 Front #27, Sun

Sue, who sold pies in Fort Greene last year, launches her new natural body-products line this Sunday: RAD Soap, which includes olive-oil soap, bath and body shower gels, and more. 81 Front #20, Sun

In lieu of a Curated Corner this weekend (DailyCandy is back April 4/5 with its favorite Brooklyn designers, look out!), and with the Halcyon resident DJs whooping it up in Miami this weekend, Senor elected to curate a few pals to play records all weekend in Dumbo. There will be fun.

Among our special guests are Raspberry Jones and Andy Beta, two fine music journos who dabble in the turntable arts. (Senor happens to be launching a new DJ dance party with them both next Wednesday, April 1, upstairs at Frank's Lounge in Fort Greene. With a very special guest.) Bill Bragin, former Joe's Pub honcho and now of Lincoln Center. Johnny Temple of Aksashic Books, the Brooklyn Book Festival (and Girls vs. Boys), spinning a reggae/dub set (yum!). Sue A of AIGA NY and foodie scribe Jane Lerner tag-teaming. Martha Stewart and Everyday Food Art Director Will Van Roden.

Special bonus: Rich from Etherea Records, the well-loved longtime Avenue A record shop, will be selling stock from the recently departed shop. He'll have a table of records and CDs alongside the DJs, which will also feature a crate or two that Senor and Raspberry Jones' are putting on sale from their personal collections.

Props to Jess for shooting at the Flea this weekend as Senor got some R&R. (Jess runs an awesome food/cooking blog called Go Meat Yourself that puts the loco in locavore--a must-read for DIY foodies.) She'll be helping us keep the blog a bit more "dynamic" (i.e., updated) in the weeks to come, so check back (more) often!

Friendly Dumbo neighbor Bart ran the incomparably tasty vintage shop Prague Kolektiv on Front St. for most of the '00s, purveying perfectly designed Czech and Eastern European furniture and housewares from the meat of the early to mid 20th Century. Bart has now set up shop in a 4th floor showroom at 68 Jay St., and with Vintage + Modern weekend coming up he's offered to give Fleasters a hefty discount on anything in his shop--30-40% on everything he's got!

All you have to do is visit the market on any day--in Dumbo, or in Fort Greene when we start back up outside Saturday, April 18--and then drop by and tell Bart you heard about the deal from the Flea. Happy Czopping!

Prague Kolektiv Showroom

68 Jay St. (btw. Front + Water), #415

Tue-Fri, Noon-3p; Sat+Sun, Noon-6p (or by appointment)

718.260.8013

We like the way 76 and 81 Front have developed their own identities during the pop-up season. (Note that the Dumbo markets are now open Saturday and Sunday through April 12, past the original final date. When Fort Greene reopens Saturday, April 18, Dumbo will switch to Sundays only.) 76 is still just vintage and antiques--furniture, art, jewelry, clocks, ephemera and photos, clothing, and lots of "stuff"--while 81 has some vintage smalls and clothing, plus top-notch handmade jewelry, crafts, clothes, and of course yummies.

We think of the collectors' eye at 76 as inspiring the creativity at 81, and we love that the Flea positive/community vibe has somehow teleported from Fort Greene to Dumbo--wasn't sure that would happen. (Maybe that's why Tyra Banks, Marisa Tomei, Jason Schwartzman, Liev Schreiber + Naomi Watts, Marcia Gay Harden, and Ally Sheedy have all dropped by recently? Or why designers for the new Allen Ginsberg biopic are coming back every week?)

Collector/vendors are the unsung heroes who spend the week scouring haystacks of stuff across the region for the wonderful antique needles that Fleasters peruse every weekend.

George from Treasures + Pleasures, Adele Amore, Harry Cooker, and Ray Brachfeld (characters all btw) all use their expertly-trained eyes to create gorgeous vintage and costume jewelry displays. Areta from Papushka Vintage (her stuff made the lead Times photo in our writeup) brings together elegant Deco and Nouveau dresses and accessories with distinctive, often chunky jewelry. Val's dead-stock enamel earrings (above, left) are always a hit at Blue Canary Vintage (along with her 19th C. kiln glass-by-the-pound), and she's launching a new biz at the Flea soon called Kings County Salvage--stay tuned.

Film and TV stylist Joseph Sipos (dba Estate of Art Vintage Lifestyle) hand-selects every men's and women's garment in his booth, from varsity cardigans to runwaywear (above, right). (Supermodel Simona drops by regularly.) Amy of Jellyroll Vintage purveys affordable colorful dresses a la mode of every flavor. Jean-Paul, who has run the men's vintage shop Rue St. Denis on Ave. B for a decade-plus, has Swiss Army coats, vests, '60s/'70s blazers, and great mod housewares, while his pal Maria hones in on the ladieswear. Nearby, Tutek rocks proto-preppy sweaters and blazers for guys (plus '80s metal T's), alongside a growing focus on barely-worn vintage shoes (above, center).

Kevin comes in from Hudson, NY, with country, industrial, mod, Scandinavian--if it's mid-century he's got it at Smith Vintage Modern. Furnishings, art books, trinkets, glassware, and more (above, right). Joe of Jaybird Antiques always has a fresh array of stylish furniture and mid-century lamps and housewares (above, left)--his eye is keen and contemporary. Jeffrey and his Chelsea Marketeers outfit go across-the-board with their refined mix of lighting, art, decorative items, and furnishings. Jennifer from Connecticut shop Spotted mixes cheerful, fun housewares with straight-ahead modern wood furniture (above, center).

And the hits just keep coming: David Sokosh repairs and spruces up early 20th C. Brooklyn-made clocks, and shares a booth with pal Lon Black and his meticulously organized and endlessly fascinating collection of vintage postcards and ephemera. Mike and Rebecca Rivich come in from Chicago every month or so with Deco furniture, lamps, and more (right, top). Longtime dealer Charles Lavigna (of Stone Cottage Antiques in CT) enters the picture this Saturday with great stuff (right, below), while Bonnie Seelos, Paula and Gary of FDR to JFK, Susan Walker, Sue Harmon, Karen Murphy/Madalin Antiques, Adrienne Lorber, and Yuji Agematsu have been keeping it real vintage-style in 81 Front every weekend.

(Check out last week's slideshow for more pics.)

The Flea is getting serious. Sure, we like fun, music, yummy treats. But our real bread and butter remains great vintage and antique finds: furniture, art, clothing, jewelry, objects, photos, housewares. If you've dropped by 76 Front over the last month you know that the mix of vendors there is peaking in terms of quality, affordability, and hitting the right crowd notes. (We'll be doing our delayed 76 update later this week.)

So to up the ante, this weekend we invited a Flea kindred spirit in the form of Vintage + Modern Inc., the three-year-old upstart in the vintage/antiques online-selling realm. V+M caters to the designer scene as well as the savvy public with a keen, modern eye, and we were introduced to them by our pals at City Foundry, the awesome Atlantic Ave. vintage shop--which just happens to be one of V+M's picks in the "Curated Corner" this weekend.

Here's who's onboard this weekend, along with a couple of the pieces you can expect to find from each. Collectors unite!

Albert Joseph Gallery (Short Hills, NJ): Antique Chinese Red Lacquer Grain Canister (above, left), Pair of Shanghai Deco Club Chairs

Circa Trade (Hudson, NY): Pair of Painted Lion Heads, Mughal-style Birdcage

City Foundry (Brooklyn!): Thonet Bent Wood Stools (above, center), Standing Ashtray by Henry Dreyfus

red M Studio (Boston): Stainless Steel Vintage Medical Cabinet (above, right), Vintage Porcelain-Top Ice Cream Parlor Table

This just in: the Mast Brothers' this-weekend-only concoction is a dark-chocolate bar with spicy pecans and cocoa nibs. Find it only at the Cool Hunting Curated Corner this Saturday and Sunday. While supplies last!

Yum, fun.

We've tried our best to assemble a lineup this weekend that jives with the heavy hitters in the Cool Hunting Curated Corner, and the regular vendors will be stepping up their design quotient as well.

Here are a few folks entering the fold to seek out in your Flea meanderings.

Oh, did someone say mid-50s and sunny this weekend?

Tony (aka Tonky Designs), a former colleague of Senor's from the halcyon LMCC days, is doing fun, informed design that bridges utilitarian and public-space conceptualism. The Tonky Octopus Wall Sticker (above left) was designed to protect the fabled canal from the evil spirits of gentrification, but Tone also handmakes prints, collages, and ceramic objects (like a wedge of cheese) that are bold home statements. #14 81 Front, Sat/Sun

Donna's Re-Surface Design transforms images of urban decay and graffiti into interior-design objects like lamps (above right). Her new "Remix" line includes a microphone hanging light--very cool for the DJ/musician in your life. Forward fast! #30 81 Front, Sun

Anthony Sisto makes distinctive mid-century-inspired furniture (above, left) here in the home borough, including his signature "S" chair (above, left). #12 81 Front, Sat/Sun

Katherine and Andy of kg + ab are back this weekend with their mostly white porcelain sophisticatedly cute objects. A matte white cast puppy, or two polar bears hugging in a glass case (above, center)? C'mon! #36 81 Front, Sat

Roger Benton and his bearded brood of furniture designers are back this Sunday with their rugged/refined pieces made largely from salvaged wood--again here in the home borough. The credenza (above, right) by Jonas is awesome, as are their simple 4x4 wood stumps. #25 81 Front, Sun

We would be remiss in not pointing out the regulars who are technically designers in their own right, including folks like Ryan of Flux Productions (#20 81 Front, Sat), Maggie and David of Loyalty + Blood (#10 81 Front, Sat/Sun), and Erica of Species by the Thousands (#24 81 Front, Sun). (Left to right, above.) Old pal and sporadic regular Milton Carter is in the house this weekend as well, in #15.

Coming up tomorrow: the vintage collectors who provide the inspiration for the Flea's modern marvels...