Artists & Fleas

Artists & Fleas

Photo: Artists and Fleas

Neighborhood: Williamsburg
Type of Place: Flea Markets

Description:

Even enthusiastic shoppers are sometimes caught unprepared. Today was Fathers' Day and, a bit to our embarassment, we were scrambling around at the last moment for a suitable something to bring Dear Dad. But there was an upside—the mad dash brought to our attention a great community market, filled with everything from handmade accessories to great vintage clothes to obscure albums and even (your kids won't know what they are, but you do) 45s.

The promotional card for the market promises "local artists, designers, collectors, and people-with-a-good-eye-and-cool-stuff," and that's pretty much in keeping with what we found. Vendors change every week, so it's hard to say exactly who or what will materialize on a given visit, but you can count on discovering things you'd have a hard time ordering from a catalogue and won't see all over town. We spotted some vintage sweaters and shoes that we loved, some great jewelry, quite a few covetable albums, some funky Mexican-themed home accessories, some snappy vintage ties (we almost went with the cliched "a tie for dad" idea), and a wide selection of used books. Most vendors were refreshingly reasonable in price. There's also appealing snack food available, in case you need fuel to continue shopping, and upbeat indie pop being played to set a festive mood.

If we'd had more time, we probably would have sorted through the books and found a good number of possibilities for Dad. But alas, we were pressed, so we jumped over to the less-sprawling Spacial and got him a nice photography book there. However, we didn't leave the market empty-handed; we got two great handbags from a design line called Vain Girl New York (646-382-0299; harurich@msn.com), at the unbelievable sale price of $5 each. And we're excited about keeping this market in our sights for weeks and months to come.

  - Pamela Grossman; June 20,2005

Artists & Fleas
129 N. 6th St.
betw. Bedford and Berry
Brooklyn, NY 11211
917-541-5760
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