Following Complaints, The Brooklyn Flea Is Leaving the Williamsburg Waterfront
It’s easy to forget that anyone actually lives on the Williamsburg Waterfront, but they do, and it turns out, they’re actually not so thrilled having the park that constitutes their backyard flooded with people (and vendors) every weekend (the Flea’s there Sundays during the summer, and Smorgasburg on Saturdays). “No one ever thought you were going to have a commercial activity take over this park both days every weekend. It just was too much,” longtime resident Jonathan Burkan told DNAinfo of the back-to-back events.
As such, the Flea’s now looking for a new summer location (Smorgasburg is staying put) and founder Eric Demby said, “The success of our markets in East River State Park this season exceeded everyone’s expectations, including our own, and understandably took some people in the neighborhood by surprise. And while the large majority of area residents continued to be supportive of our two-day residency, we decided that it made sense to compromise with some of the voices urging moderation in a move that we hope will secure the long-term future of Smorgasburg in the park on Saturdays.”
So, looks like that’s that, and for now, the winter Flea is settled into its new home on North 5th. Anyone have a massive, crowd-friendly space they feel like renting out?
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.
