Brooklyn Flea

The Flea. You nurtured her as a babe in Fort Greene in '08, tutored her as a teen at Gifted for the holidays, encouraged her as a young adult in Dumbo, watched her blossom into beauty this spring in Fort Greene again. Now, she's about to achieve maturity.

Starting Sunday, June 14, the Flea will launch a long-awaited second weekend location, at a truly magnificent site under the Brooklyn Bridge on our gorgeous waterfront. Tucked between River Cafe and the Tobacco Warehouse at Water and New Dock Street, the Brooklyn Bridge Flea has stunning views of the NYC skyline, graced by cool river breezes and the mighty Bridge's dramatic arc. It's, like, totally world-class.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the folks at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation and a handful of City agencies, let's just say the Flea has hit the bigtime! Stay tuned for updates on exciting new vendors, tasty treats, and more. And of course keep visiting the indoor Dumbo markets on Sundays through the end of May.

Thanks to all vendors and Fleasters for giving us the confidence to make this bold leap.

Lovely lass Neki essentially debuted her delish Early Bird granola at the Flea this year, but it was already a surefire hit. Gracing the opening page of the New York Strategist feature on the Flea earlier this month was a coup, but then last week we got word that she was appearing on none other than Martha Stewart's TV show, walking Miss M. through the making of her granola. (Here's the clip.) Not a bad start for a small biz.

Neki works by day as the general manager of the divine Franny's on Flatbush Ave., but of more importance to Fleasters, you can find her on Saturdays in E6 in Fort Greene. Early Bird: good luck leaving the nest!

Every Fleaster has his/her own reason for coming to the market. Be it cupcakes, deals on vintage furniture or clothes, plants, or fab jewelry, one thing is certain: this ain't no stinkin' Walmart. Which is how we met Marilyn and Lalta.

A couple weeks ago in Dumbo these classy ladies were generous enough to let us know--in between bites of pupusa--that they come to the Flea religiously in order to support the artisanal community. Times is tough for businesses big and little, but when you Flea you're supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs. That feels warm, fuzzy too. Plus, Marilyn and Lalta say, "It's tastier!"

Here are a bunch of Senor's pics from set-up time last Saturday and opening day too. We're trying to provide a glimpse behind the scenes these days--enjoy the view.

One of the most competitive and quality Hunts in Flea history ended quickly, as predicted. Not sure we've ever seen Fleasters so pleased to Scavenge as witnessed this weekend. Excellent sleuthing!

Left to right:

The kids plaid suitcase was found by Virginia Braun of Park Slope (via New Zealand) (right) at 10:52am. She snagged it in Val's Kings County Salvage booth, her newly launched indie biz for all things Americana that also make sense in your urban pad. Such good pickins in her booth--W1 in Fort Greene, 7/8/9 in Dumbo, every week. Yes, Virginia, there is a Flea Claus.

Afton Cissell was so psyched when she unearthed the 1926 atlas in Lon Black's booth at 12:25pm. Lon had hid it well, knowing it was coveted by blogreaders, smart move. Afton lives in an NYU dorm near Union Square, and this was her first Flea excursion, which made us a little misty-eyed frankly. The squeals of joy from Afton and pals were audible and downright joyous. Lon slings his amazing vintage postcards and printed ephemera in L9 in Fort Greene and #2 in Dumbo, every darn weekend. (He's also a professional cat massager at Hope Veterinary Clinic...seriously. See below.)

Check back Friday at noon for this week's items.

Believe it or not, after the long haul at Fort Greene our fearless vendors go load in at Dumbo on Saturday night for the Sunday market. The best way to show them your respect? Check out the indoor Sunday markets, which have different stuff, Halcyon DJs, and a great vibe.

The Hunt will again only be in Fort Greene this week. FleaLand is a circus right now, we'll be back on track soon. We promise.

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.

We think the antiques sector of the Flea has reached its apex of quality--at long last--so both items are of fine vintage this week.

Happy hunting!

From left:

1. Rand McNally International Atlas, 1926. 393 pages. Loaded with U.S. & World maps. MYSTERY BONUS: what was found inside the atlas. Vintage

2. Small plaid childrens suitcase, c. 1960s. Vintage

Last week Jen of Spotted brought all this amazing audio equipment including spastic vintage speakers and incredible old Chicago Blues records (Sonny Boy Williamson, etc.). It's no wonder Flea regular Jeffrey Wright was tooling around in her booth all afternoon with his kids and their balloons.

This week Jen is bringing these insane giant molds (above) used to make pipes and other equipment for cable systems here in Brooklyn. They're made of mahogany by a company called Dossert, and are the kind of serious salvage items you can find at the Flea every weekend.

Scour and ye shall find!

W5, Fort Greene, Sat.

Check out the jug. Alison (right) just bought it, with help from her friend Megha, for her boyfriend who's a sculptor--he uses stuff like this in his work. Who knew you didn't have to go to Pearl Paint to get what you need to make your art. PS. I saw Madalin Antiques has a great old-timey paint set, too. Get your art on.

Roosevelt Dime will be gracing the entrance to the Flea every Saturday with their homestyle homegrown Americana, straight up with a bucket and a banjo. Big band Brooklyn bluegrass? Something like that. They looked coolest in a black-and-white pic someone used in a blog post on last week's Flea, makes sense. They're all local, they have a new album out you can buy at the Flea, and dang if they don't make it feel like an olde tyme town square.