Brooklyn Winter Flea

Until now, flea marketing in NYC for me always meant the Chelsea now Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market, and occasionally, the Greenflea on the Upper West or our own local Flea at PS183.

But this is the new New York, whose heart for many now lies across the Brooklyn Bridge in the borough where second-hand is the ultimate statement of individuality. And it is here that this next generation of New Yorkers has brought the flea market to a whole new level of curated cool.

The Brooklyn Flea is is not necessarily the place to go for discovery, to sift for hours among the junk to find the treasure.

That picking has already been done for you by these mostly young and hipster vendors, who seem to be letting us in on the secret, albeit for a price a bit higher than you  may have expected.

But hey, reality check, they need to make a living and this is, after all, New York.

Medical paraphernalia is in evidence throughout, perhaps reflecting the modern fascination with health,

and included this skull, which my friend and neurologist Allen informed me is rare because it has all the bones of the inner ear,

and this gorgeous print from an old medical text that I just had to buy.

Amidst the antiques, of course, are the crafts – handmade soaps,

recycled vinyl

hand-printed fabrics, wood crafts and handmade jewelry.

But for me, flea markets are where I go to discover the past, and the Brooklyn Flea allows me do so through the lens of a whole new generation of curators. I’ll definitely be going back.

In winter months, The Brooklyn Flea is located in in the massively beautiful old Williamsburg Savings Bank, but becomes much larger when it moves outdoors in April to locations in both Fort Greene and Williamsburg. The Flea also hosts the Smorgasburg Food Markets and pop up markets throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan.