Gothamist: Tube Socks, Funnel Cake, and Fruit Smoothies: NYC Street Fairs are "Generic"

libeala

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:20:42 -0500

As a new vendor is too expensive to get into the fair it costs up to $220 just for the space without nothing more than the floor.... I agree that nowadays vendors are offering a-lot-of-crap but regarding the variety offered it should stay NY style, people from allover are welcome!!

awesome

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:17:14 -0500

I have heard that pat likes to click twice or something like that

pat

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 13:21:51 -0500

i have heard that chicago has really good street fairs. sounds like they have an awesome one called market days or something like that.

pat

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 13:19:04 -0500

i have heard that Chicago has pretty good street fairs. sounds like they have an awesome one called Market Days or something like that.

Twin C

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:00:12 -0500

The Dutchess County Fair is better than every single NYC street fair combined. Ms. Wasserman has no idea what she's talking about, and probably considers Yonkers as "upstate".

sp

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:00:08 -0500

back in the day street fairs were awesome, because the people selling stuff, both the food and the wares, were from new york. you had local neighborhood restaurants setting up tables with their dishes, and the stuff being sold was either art and clothing made by residents, or antiques/junk. not this wholesale purchased industrially manufactured generic shit that can be bought anywhere or the standard sausage/peppers, arepas, funnel cake slop that is also just an industrial product. I think in order to bring authenticity back, the fairs as they are now should be banned and individual neighborhood should be responsible for organizing their own fairs if they want them, with planning and vendor attendance only permitted to people/businesses from that particular neighborhood.

Tony

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:33:30 -0500

Hey goombah, you still owe me $10 for that ball toss game. My level 6 Dep Gel doesn't pay for itself, y'know?

oh my foodies

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:02:35 -0500

The taste of Chinatown street fair should not be lumped into these carpetbaggers and their pre fab booths and propane tanks. friggin carnies.

ihatestreetfair

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 08:34:06 -0500

STREET FAIRS SUCK. Waste of time, money and they f#ck up the traffic in the city. They are generic, pathetic and annoying (especially the guy on the megaphone screaming about New York Post subs, or the douchebags with the mix tapes). UGH! Stop the madness. I do like it when they are original though- Big Apple BBQ is the best kind of street fair out there....

junk food

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 07:48:36 -0500

Hey, if it weren't for street fairs, I would never have gotten to try things like deep-fried Oreos, which I had only read about in articles about how Middle America is getting fat.

Judas Iscariot

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 21:34:37 -0500

"the fare(sic) is usually the same sausages-n-curly fries, cheap undershirts" I've seen cheaper undershirts at 99cents stores and quality is about the same.

Toby

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 21:11:21 -0500

When I have gone to street fairs in other cities I was really disappointed that there were not any socks being sold. I of course remarked, this can't be a street fair, where the hell are the socks?

solidago

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:36:01 -0500

Whoa, PleaseShutUp, I don't know which 5th Ave (N. Park Slope) street fair you've been to, but at the ones that I have been to all of the local merchants and restaurants set up tables outside their storefronts -- those shouldnt be thrown into the same lot as those obnoxious fairs in Manhattan selling overpriced junk food. Not all street fairs suck.

Rob

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:21:56 -0500

I love me some NYC, but Chicago is def tops when it comes to street fests. Like last night's Market Days. Awesome!

ianqui

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:21:34 -0500

Man, that's an unfair dis on Dutchess County. The Dutchess County Fair is a testament to its rural roots. Besides, they have much better crafts, and rides, too. And Red Hook is very quaint. And has a Frank Gehry building nearby. Oh, right. Manhattan's going to have that soon too. Hmmm. Maybe it's not so different. Of course, the NYC street fairs claim to have Interesting Items.

Rob

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:20:57 -0500

I love me some NYC, but Chicago is tops when it comes to street fests. Like Market Days for instance. Last night was awesome.

Rob

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 20:20:03 -0500

I love me some NYC, but Chicago is better when it comes to street fests...like Market Days! WHoo hoo.

homo

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 18:27:09 -0500

the best is the italian streetfairs with the darts game. the guidos say to throw one, it's free and then when you throw one they say it's 5 bucks and then a whole bunch of guys come out and intimidate you to pay. Guido's! gotta love em!

t-bone

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 18:22:05 -0500

Atlantic Antic is way more than a street fair... it's full of local vendors and restaurants and live music...

nick

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 18:01:07 -0500

there needs to be more egg cream/egg roll festivals throughout the city.

st

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:54:48 -0500

The best street fair and the only unique one I've ever attended was the Japanese one in the east Village between 1st and A - it was on St marks?? I don't know when it is, I luckily stumbled upon it once. I wish I knew when it was because they had the best crafts, jewlry and clothing

c

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:25:47 -0500

Agreed that street fairs in NYC are boringly similar, but come on, the argument against them because of traffic congestion is silly. You drive in NYC, you deserve traffic congestion.

paul

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:15:32 -0500

The socks you buy at those street fairs suck big time. You're better off going to an old navy.

nyc320

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:09:31 -0500

Fair is the New Terrible - I couldn't agree more!!

Tara

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:07:21 -0500

Don't knock the socks. You can always use another pair of socks. Definitely a diss to Dutchess County, though. Perhaps Ms. Wasserman had a bad experience upstate? If you don't like the street fairs, don't go to them. As for tying up traffic, I'd rather have a fair than the unending demolition by Verizon, Con Ed and the like. At least the street fairs don't mess with my lights or cable.

PleaseShutUp

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:52:23 -0500

I couldn't agree more. In Brooklyn there is a 5th Avenue Street Fair and a Seventh Avenue Street fair with almost zero difference between the two except for two block, and both are made totally irrelevant by the Antlantic Avenue monstrosity. There need to be fewer fairs or more variety between fairs.

nick

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:49:18 -0500

sausages and curly fries will never get old. ever.

edEx

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:41:11 -0500

socks. that's all these street fairs are good for.

Fair is the New Terrible

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:40:57 -0500

Street fairs are a blight. They tie up traffic, block entry to the stores that actually pay rent on a given block and offer nothing supplemental to the urban experience. What can we do to get rid of them?

dan soda

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:38:33 -0500

do those things even really qualify as "fairs"? let's be honest, for the most part they're really junk food festivals. they remind me of food courts at low-rent malls and i would take, like, four imodium before i'd ever eat anything from one of them.

Joe

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 16:37:45 -0500

That's such a weird comparison between a street fair and the Dutchess County Fair. While both have greasy and foods and vendors selling cheap crap, the Dutchess County fair also has farm animals, farm implements (new and antique), country music concerts and lots more.