When Eric Demby and Jonathan Bulter founded the Brooklyn Flea in 2008, it helped usher in a new era of flea markets in New York, with a focus more on high-quality, carefully curated products than the usual tchotchkies and junk. Now, with the success of the Flea, and in particular, the food vendors there, Demby and Butler are launching an all-food market this Saturday at their Williamsburg waterfront site. The cheekily named Smorgasburg, featuring over 100 local vendors selling everything from homemade mustard to banana-ricotta spring rolls (a full lineup can be found in PDF form on the Smorgasburg site), is poised to be a major success. We recently spoke with Demby and Butler a day before their grand opening and chatted about what to expect, why a food market matters, and their deep love of noodles. more ›

The Brooklyn Flea isn't taking the chilly season off, but they are moving things indoors. Co-founder Jonathan Butler (pictured to the right of Eric Demby) told us that the space will be smaller than the outdoor Flea in Fort Greene, with about 30 vendors housed inside. The winter months will be held in a usually empty space at 76 Front Street in DUMBO, which we went over to check out for ourselves. more ›

Last night the community board meeting concerning The Brooklyn Flea was held, and The Brooklyn Paper reports back that opponents and organizers alike "met in a heated, ethnically charged summit that ended without any solutions to the chasm that separates the sides." Essentially, local churches want the Flea gone, or at least no longer coinciding with services on Sunday (but really they just want it gone); many believe that the long-time residents are leaving no middle ground for compromise and are merely resisting any inevitable change. more ›

For the love of all that is crafty and thrifty: Brooklyn's beloved Flea is in danger! NYMag reports that "the large church on Vanderbilt & Lafayette along with some FG residents are meeting this week to try to shut it down." This is their third meeting addressing the topic, and each meeting has grown in size and support. Yikes! Jonathan Butler, organizer of the Brooklyn Flea, confirmed the problems and told us the following:

At this point, as far as we know, it's a matter of a few residents and church members who feel inconvenienced by some quality of life issues that are the natural by-product of holding an event like this. Councilmember Tish James will be presenting a number of specific steps to address these concerns at the meeting on Thursday and we are optimistic that the community will be able to move forward from there. The Flea is a source of both economic stimulus and community building and the large majority of people in the area--including the Fort Greene Association and the Society for Clinton Hill--are in full support of it.

Yesterday Jonathan Butler unleashed the Brooklyn Flea upon the borough, and even Marty Markowitz showed up (perhaps to find replacement placemats for his wife?). Butler tells us that "While we could have asked for better weather, we couldn't have asked for a better turnout or better vibes from all the visitors and vendors." more ›

Jonathan Butler has been talking real estate and renovation over at his blog, Brownstoner, since 2005. This year he brings his know-how offline with the most massive flea market Brooklyn has seen, aptly called Brooklyn Flea. While honing our haggling skills, we asked him a few questions about what to expect when it opens this weekend. more ›