The words “flea market” usually call to mind visions of cheap socks, broken electronics, and yellowed pages of obscure fiction. This time, New York’s newest (and biggest) open-air market, Brooklyn Flea, is filled with much more than boxes of old souvenirs brought down from the attic.
Brooklyn Flea, the brainchild of brownstoner.com blogger Jonathan Butler and pal Eric Demby, has entered the open-air market scene just in time to replace the fading Chelsea fairs. This new weekly addition to Fort Greene brings together merchants dealing in vintage, crafts, art, jewelry, and food, among other trades. Butler called it a “mix of a traditional flea market and new indie designers,” but said that the market is evolving every Sunday, with different sellers signing on to exhibit at the Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School yard. Butler said they were expecting more traditional vendors to come aboard as the Flea gets further established.
With space for 200 vendors at the school’s outdoor venue, there is plenty to search through; it is both pleasant and wallet teasing. The creative minds of Brooklyn and Manhattan have produced gobs of goodies to admire, like handcrafted jewelry (perfect for Mother’s Day), cute and cleverly illustrated cards, and sweetly satisfying banana nut bread by Brown Bag Industries.
Flea is also a great place to pick up some new duds for your home space with refurnished and repurposed vintage furniture that might have otherwise hit the landfill. Some other interesting finds include old (and naughty) photographs and magazines, aptly labeled “smut” and “more smut”; and locally-crafted, vegan scents from D.S. & Durga. If you’re lucky enough to be there when the Save Polaroid booth comes to town, take a minute to immortalize the day.
Brooklyn Flea is worth return trips, as several of the vendors are on alternating week schedules, and cooperatives like Supermarket have a variety of artists taking turns under the tent.
(Note to self: market-goers with dogs will need to tie them outside the lot per school rules.) According to Jonathan Butler, Flea will likely be around at least until Christmas, reopening in April. Keep up with the latest vendors and Flea news at brooklynflea.com. The Flea is open from 10 am to 5 pm on Sundays.
How to get there: Take any train that goes to Atlantic Ave. or Pacific St. in Brooklyn, including the C train to Brooklyn. Other options include taking the G to Clinton/Washington or the F to Lafayette Street. Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School is at 357 Clermont Ave., Fort Greene, Brooklyn. For public transportation directions from anywhere on Manhattan, click the HopStop link below.
Photos: Courtesy of Candida DaFonseca and Eve Roytshteyn (see individual photos below for details).
Sarah Knapp is a Brooklyn based entrepreneur whose love for the outdoors and community building led her to the October 2013 creation of OutdoorFest. She has a BA in History, is a Wilderness First Responder and a NY state hiking, camp and boating guide. Her proudest achievement to date is reading the Aeneid in Latin. 
Allison was one of our first top writers and Chief Editor but is no longer working with offMetro. Allison is a native New Yorker, who has lived in Rome, Tuscany, Melbourne, Toronto and Los Angeles. She frequently contributed travel pieces to Family Travel Forum, using her own children as guinea pigs as they travel the globe. She never missed a chance to sample local delicacies, as her love for travel goes hand-in-hand with her love for food and wine. 
Josh Laskin is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When he is not at work or on the road, you can find him in the mountains snowboarding, climbing, hiking, fly fishing, mountain biking, and eating bagel bites.
Annie is a travel writer, environmentalist, and surfer based in Venice, CA. She heads up our West Coast team, keeps our grammatical errors in check, and makes sure our California writers always have a plan for their next adventure. Follow Annie’s travels @annelisemcb.
Carly Pifer is a freelance writer who has been known to follow whims inspired by romantic movie scenes or colorful street style shots to India, Japan, Tunisia and Argentina. After stints living in Seoul, Boston, Paris and Los Angeles, writing and searching for something intangible, she landed somewhat steadily in Brooklyn and has begun to find inspiration in her more immediate surroundings. 
Kate E. O’Hara is a New York based freelance writer and photographer who loves all things food—especially the people who make it and market it. Her writing aims to capture the essence of the food experience; the stories that go well beyond a plate of ingredients. In addition to her love of food, Kate is also known to have a hankering for red wine and craft beer. You can also find Kate on Instagram