The hottest shopping destination when the weather warms up in Brooklyn this year? It looks like it’s going to be Bushwick, which is not only slated to get a mini-Smorgasburg starting in April, but will not be getting its own branded flea market. The Bushwick Flea will be kicking off in April and offering up a flea market for Bushwickers who don’t want to bother going to Williamsburg. Or Fort Greene. Or Park Slope. Basically people who want a flea market in Bushwick, that’s who the Bushwick Flea is for.
Word of the flea market comes from DNA Info, who talked to the market’s founder, Rob Abner. Abner told them the Bushwick Flea was started by him and a handful of other former Brooklyn Flea vendors, who were tired of how big and touristy the Brooklyn Flea had gotten. So at the very least, they’re starting the market for a very Bushwick reason.
The plans are for the market, located on a lot on Wyckoff Avenue and Willoughby Avenue, to start on April 4 and run Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 6pm. The lot can house up to 50 vendors selling all sorts of vintage and otherwise neighborhood-appropriate things, and there are future plans include a beer garden and live music. Of course, that’s all if things manage to go smoothly.
Given that ‘Shwick has staked out their spot and is expanding into food, we’d hate to see Bushwick add a flea market civil war to their graffitti civil war, and see the neighborhood’s otherwise sparkling clean streets be full of the detritus of a battle that sees vintage vendor taking up arms against vintage vendor. Not to mention the shit talking that opened up a second front against the Brooklyn Flea could bring a whole new wave of pissed off sellers of the handmade and precious. So basically, our prediction for Bushwick this summer is this: