Is Manhattan’s Flea Market Culture Dying?

I love this place. What's going in on the first floor?

Westbeth Flea Market has been in business for over 38 years in the West Village. It is located in the basement of Westbeth Artists Housing and sells am incredible array of clothing, household goods , books, records and original affordable art, collectibles and more all donated by the artists. The Flea Market opens on Election Day and the following weekend.

When I was in London in the 1990s, I'd go to such antiques places on New Bond Street. One such was a former fish canning place, with a stream flowing through a trough in the center of the floor! I also bought all sorts of interesting things in little bric-a-brac stores in Cornwall, and other places in the UK. When I go to military history museums, I see things I collected on display. Now I have too much stuff, and my collecting days are past. As, apparently, is this antiques/flea market space here in NYC. It was nice while it lasted.

I miss the flea market on 26th Street, t was buried under a luxury apartment building. And I miss the SoHo flea market.. whose fate was similar. As was the one in Chinatown.. as was... It's not so complicated..building development killed NY's flea markets, and with it, some of the joy of discovery, finding a great deal on a unique item, and meeting new people.

I used to love the flea markets in NYC but I think a couple of reasons for their demise have been ignored here. 1. eBay- there are no more deals to be found. Everything nice has been picked over and funneled online where higher prices can be found and a wider audience. Notice the price of antiques had not come down. 2. Bed bugs. I stopped shopping at thrift stores and flea markets when the outbreak started.

Evolve or die. Most wishful nostalgic readers would prefer a stagnant city that doesn’t change. I get that sentiment but times change and so do flea markets.

We still have a wonderful indoor and outdoor flea market at 77th Street and Columbus on Sunday mornings in the schoolyard and inside the building. There are also food vendors and crafts people as well as junk, antiques, and collectibles. There is also the farmers' market across the street. It's my Sunday ritual.

Deblasio doesn't care about anything that concerns preservation. Just look at all the empty store fronts. Its amazing he has not fired his head of NYC Small Businesses, but now that he's back supposedly doing his full time job let's hope he addresses the demise of retail in all aspects that include flea markets, small business owners and how many Duane Reads, Banks does one city need on every other corner?

Tenderbuttons closed, now this. sigh.

I used to love all this 'stuff,' 'the hunt' and all the rest. Wasn't in NY to do its, but every city, town and one-block town has its own version. Now just reading this article and looking at the photos makes me anxious and queasy. Especially that pic of the two dealers(?) or crowding that older woman. Call it 'aging out,' or realizing -- too late -- where will all this junk go when I do (go)? Young people generally don't want old, dusty stuff, no matter its 'provenance.' Wisely, they are choosing to live more 'lightly,' and value experiences, many shared with family, over 'things.' So, no more of this for me, and for that, I am ... relieved. Now, just to deal with the accumulated past junk that still is with me ... ugh.

I am an artist who was one of those flea people for over 30 years, mostly in NYC. I make jewelry out of all sorts of found treasures, so i was a customer at many fleas too. The flea market tribe are my friends and nearly family to me. I am fortunate to have left NYC when I did, to enjoy real fleas and antiques all over the place outside of Philadelphia. Columbus NJ.. the Golden Nugget, Lambertville NJ. One thing no one has mentioned is the power of the Community Boards in NYC. They ultimately decide what goes where when. 45 year old Crafts On Columbus. Gone because the community board wanted to keep the farmers markets there every weekend and despite us getting 65,000 signatures, they still vetoed it. institution. There are no more spaces in NYC to sell your wares. And well, online? It ain't the same as a cigar chomping aficionado who is thrilled to enlighten you on various mid century ashtrays. Maybe locals need to wake up the community boards.

Where have you been it ended 20 years ago.

You can fly direct to NY from Auckland NZ, next year on Air NZ flight and even I am tempted to go there to rummage around the flea markets, even though I see NY as a concrete jungle! lol! https://www.timeout.com/newyork/shopping/best-flea-markets

Probably need the online auctions to give them a higher profile. Also, you have to sell what people want and don't forget the changing demographics and different cultures that immigrate to USA and don't want English antiques etc. Probably need to upgrade and modernise their internet profiles on Facebook etc to appeal to people. The online antique auctions in NZ that do well are usually selling quality deceased estates and offer a variety of household lots collected over a lifetime. Some of the online auctions are international and they ship internationally.

The area looks uninviting and not cute and doesn't have atmosphere where people want to hang about. Everyone goes to well managed and organised flea markets - where they cater for cruise ships and other stuff that tourists buy. Lovingly made or curated and sold by stall holders that are passionate about what they sell. Arts and handmade crafts are what people want. You need a variety of stallholders to draw in many different types of people and get your location listed in free local government community webpages for events to do and see where ever so tourist know where you are located. You can also offer post overseas and they can pay by money card an/or give them your business card with your web site address on it so they can contact you when they're home and put in an order. Lots of people who knit baby clothes and do Maori carvings etc do that for tourists.

From what I've found out by googling, street art new York USA, if you want great atmosphere and artisan individual genuine NY arts and crafts goods, you need to go to industrial areas and that's where you'll find all the atmosphere; and flea markets, in areas where the Real Estate values haven't gone through the roof and where the rich don't live in million or billion dollar apartment and business buildings. I suppose you could call them, in real estate terms, less desirable areas to live in.

You need well organised markets, like the one I go to, at The Art Centre Makete, Christchurch, NZ, where it is run by a Trust and is well organised, and is amongst beautiful historical buildings. Lots of tourists like to see historical buildings and know the history behind them; and tourists also like quality street art as well as gallery art. In Christchurch NZ there is even a pamphlet at the Information Centre with a map on it showing where all the Street Art is. (Do a web search, 'street art pamphlet Christchurch nz') Sometimes markets are biproducts of other stuff in the area tourists come to see or are passing by, along the street. In Christchurch NZ you can now cruise around the city on e-scooters instead of walking.

Someone needs to start up tours of NY flea markets - it has the population and visitors to be able to have that sort of tour. Atmosphere, atmosphere. the city needs more handcrafts made by individuals and represent NY as individual arts and crafts produced and made in NY with a tag or writing on it saying, proudly made in USA. Like they used to for recycled clothes I've bought in the past. Artisian food such from different cultures, including pasties and handmade sweets such as chocolate, draw people into markets as well as take away quality coffee.

Brooklyn Flea is doing great--and lots of younger customers there too!

How sad! The past is fading...the little things that would remind us of it are fading with it.

The scene is moving uptown! Check out the bi-annual Castle Village tag sale next Sunday, September 29, on Cabrini Blvd. Great stuff and art amidst the trash.

Ugh! Showplace isn't a flea market, it's an antique store. Flea markets in the city aren't REAL flea markets, anyhow. They're antique and collectibles shows; "highly curated" "experiences" for Manhattan / Brooklyn-ites. The REAL flea markets are in NJ - Columbus, Englishtown, Collingwood, Rt. 70.

Perhaps the "new" Manhattan has become less a character & more the caricature, unfortunately.

IT is such a depressing article, but it perfectly encapsulates the changes that make NY the place it is today: a city for the rich, that value money, expensive garbage with recognizable labels on, where insipidness reigns supreme. There is no need for culture anymore. All the edifices that were home to artists, eccentrics, poets, painters, musicians are disappearing and gone the same directions as the flea markets! The pathetic truth about these times: fat bank accounts, ignorance, shallowness, and decay rule the day.

This place is the best. Also, it should be noted that on the 2nd floor is the Jin Yun Fu tea shop, one of the finest Chinese tea shops in Manhattan.

When my wife and I first started dating in the early 90s (Gen X) we collected vintage mid-century stuff because it was quirky cool compared to mainstream contemporary furnishings of the time, which were designed by and for tasteless Baby Boomers. Now, contemporary furnishings are obviously inspired by mid-century design (thanks to Gen Xers, no doubt), so it’s easier and cheaper to just buy new from Ikea. Also, we were much cooler than kids these days! LOL

A friend of mine avidly collected collectibles all through the 70s and 80s, building a collection she figured would be her retirement income once she started selling. And it was, until the economy crashed and people stopped buying. She lost everything.

Perhaps some dealers may consider Hudson NY? Warren Street was once lined with antique shop well known in NYC and beyond. Gentrification changed the retailer offerings. Currently there is a huge converted warehouse housing dealers and a smattering of shops on Warren. There are a number of unused buildings that could be converted. I'm on Pinterest and notice young people pinning all manners of things and decor eras. Upcyling is very popular among them. There are sections devoted to How-To reimagine ho hum furnishings and interiors. There may be more interested parties out there than we thought. A little ingenuity may help getting more on board. Kids love trends which become a phenomenon in it's own right.

Not only was the area around 6th Ave/ 25th/26th streets known for its flea markets on the weekends but it also was known as the flower district. New Yorkers could buy plants for their patios and flowers for their apartments. Alas all disappeared now. I would shop every weekend. I was into clocks, of which I still have a collection of around 30. I would find many valuable clocks for maybe $15 to 30 dollars. I loved the hunt. The death knell came when they rezoned the district. All that land of parking lots was too valuable so they became high rise apartment buildings bringing in big rents.

I’m an antique collector—my family have been collectors for generations. I am disappointed in how the ‘tiques industry has managed changing times. Potential buyers need to be schooled. Many come from families where new things were considered a status symbol, as opposed to ‘used’ furniture or hand-me-downs. Things I’ve hoped would get more emphasis: The obsession with new is antithetical to recycling—why would anyone knowingly chop down more trees, etc, for that ikea stuff which is anything but enduring? ‘Antique-ing’ is not just big bucks trophy hunting or a rescue of something from the past, it is responsible consumption. Further, while online buying is fun, easy, it is not a real world (not virtual world) experience. These elements should be better promoted—‘we always do it this way’ is not a marketing strategy. Went to Brimfield show a couple weeks ago...lots of younger people attending, buying, checking it out. Yes, majority of dealers are 50+, but happily, there were many younger dealers with well thought out lines and they were doing business at all price points. Glad to see—future brightening

You would think that in this time of Climate Change there would be a resurgence in the interest of acquiring things beautifully well made, that has history, and longevity. But it seems the younger generations are obsessed with "BRAND" and the constant turn over to the next new thing. Their belongings are short lived and disposable.

The fate of flea market culture in the city can serve as a metaphor for the fate of the city at large since the Bloomberg administration. The area around Sixth Avenue in the lower twenties once had many spaces devoted to weekend flea marketing. It gave that section of the city a unique appeal for artists, designers, shoppers and just browsers. When real estate developers began to buy up property and to take advantage of the almost Parisian flavor of the area imparted by the flea markets and antique shops, little by little the very source of interest in the area began to disappear. Disappear to the point where now only one flea market seems barely to be holding against the wave of development. The real estate interests may finally be succeeding in destroying a city that depressions, crime and a host of urban ills could not. Between the pieties of bicycle lanes, (ironically killing and injuring many bikers), pencil skyscrapers forever ruining our landscape and now, the ultimate assault, congestion pricing for those who merely want to drive into Manhattan, the spirit and the appearance of the city so many have loved is on the verge of being destroyed irreparably.

My dog and I would go to the market on Sixth Ave every weekend. In fact the vendors knew her name before they knew mine. When I felt it was time to leave she would dig in her heels. She loved the market not for the shopping but for the strangers who became friends and all the wonderful smells. I now have many collections, including a collection of over 1000 handkerchiefs. They were small and fit into my 500 sq foot apartment. Now I have no clue what to do with them. Ideas?

I believe the interplay amoung shop owner, shopper and fellow shoppers has been the most interesting aspect of purchasing goods throughout the history of commerce. Nobody has ever learned anything from pushing a button and receiving a box in the mail.

No the flea markets are not dead in this city they have become the charity stores "Housing Works" The Salvation Army & Volunteers of America among others. For books we have the Strand. I miss the 6th avenue fleas and the garage,but have found the junkie in me that loves odd and old items in these stores.

Every time I’m in Manhattan, in spring and autumn, I go to the Antiques Showplace building on 25th — four floors of history and fun —and the outdoor flea market across the street. I love them both. I’m 42-years old. Yes, classic antiques may not be attractive to younger people, but many do collect. They collect comic books, science-fiction movie things (“Star Trek,” et. al.), vintage clothing, and mid-century modern items, both furniture and decorative objects. Almost nobody wants tea cups and Depression glass. The owner of the Showplace building must get some vendors to clean up and declutter their spaces. Arrange their goods better. One guy along the first floor right wall, who’ve I only seen once in years, has his things in such a messy jumble, you can’t get to them even on the rare occasion when the gate is up. The Showplace owner must insist that someone man the booths on weekends. Too many are locked. Another thing, for mid-week shoppers, the owner should have some representatives in the building with a key to each and every gate and a checkout counter for when a potential buyer sees something through the booth windows or gate and wants to buy it. Every booth should have visible contact information (phone or email) so a collector can call if the vendor isn’t in. This is how every antiques co-op in the United States and Canada operates. Why not Manhattan? Also, the vendors should be a cohesive, united group and encourage other vendors to have presentable spaces.

Nobody wants to hold old stuff anymore. Data has value, they think. Unique and cool items have lost their place. When Antiques Roadshow plays old reruns they compare the values today vs 15-20 years ago, and the values have generally gone way down over that time. And these are experts. You wouldn't buy in to a perpetually depreciating market not knowing where the bottom is. Someday the same thing may happen to manhattan real estate. It will deflate for 20 or 30 years. Then, people will be able to have room to display their stuff and enough room for their friends to hang out and admire it.

The timing for a glass-and-chrome renovation is unfortunate; design (and fashion!) is like that.

If you look at photos of the luxury condo interiors in the real estate section you notice how spartan they usually are. Most of the walls are windows, the surfaces flat and shiny, and the furnishings invariably tacky, and modern, which his to say, pretty much the same as you would find in an office conference room. This is not some "statement" on the part of the owners, its an admission that they have no real knowledge or interest in art or beautiful things in general. Their ignorance on such subjects is astonishing, and there should be no longer any equation between money and taste; there is no connection at all. To most of these vapid folks "culture" is limited to whatever can fit into their mouths; it now entirely revolves around food and its fetishization. Ironically, the only establishments that still seemed to be able to meet the vampiric rents were restaurants, but even they seem on the way out. As there becomes less and less to see or do outside, and the "amenities" increase on the inside, people are now ordering in, and not just pizza, but entire exquisite meals, never leaving their glass sarcophagi. And this is why they all moved to New York, to be a prisoner on the 70th floor.

This is sad news, indeed. I’ve watched the flea markets on 6th Ave. shrink from their glorious heyday in the 80s and early 90s. I think a huge part of the change was the Internet. Sellers no longer needed to sit outside in all weather or in a booth all day. It’s sad but an unfortunate byproduct of the tech age. And, as the article mentions, many young folks have no connection to the past or old stuff the way my generation (Boomers) and those before them did. And if they do, they are doing their searching online. The things that made NY unique are fading: (the fleas, the garment district, ethnic neighborhoods and odd shopping areas, and being replaced with what appear to be scores of new high rise hotels. The tourists can come and take pictures of themselves...and the homeless...

A line in the article says most of it-- young people not interested-- for many reasons to include less disposable income, apartment space, need for the item, etc.

Once upon a time, flea markets and antiques shops were everywhere, even in Manhattan -- Fourth Avenue, Houston, and 26th Street (2-3 floors of stuff). My favorite was near the Cooper Union, in a big office building, where there was all manner of door hardware -- rim locks, escutcheons, Bennington knobs. One place on Houston, both building and garden, held treasures. Elsewhere on Houston, closer to Broadway, there was a sort of tent-plus-Quonset hut full of lesser stuff. Then they disappeared, just a bit before all our sheet music stores also disappeared -- a sort of drying up. People don't like that stuff anymore. They prefer IKEA. Go figure.