Spending the day at Smorgasburg and Brooklyn Flea

Shopping, eating, maybe enjoying a cocktail or two — it’s all right at your fingertips in Brooklyn.

Two outdoor events, the Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg, have been mainstays of New York City’s hippest borough for well over a decade. The Brooklyn Flea, where artists, artisans and vintage curators sell their wares under the archway of the Manhattan Bridge, launched first in 2008, followed by the food stand festival Smorgasburg a few years later. Both were founded by Eric Demby, a former speechwriter for onetime Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and his partner Jonathan Butler, founder of the Brooklyn real estate blog Brownstoner.

"We knew each other and teamed up in October of 2007 with an idea to have a flea market in Brooklyn when a lot of the markets in the city were closing and becoming new construction," says Demby. The Flea, as it’s known, quickly became a hot spot and a media darling; it even got a shoutout from Martha Stewart on her blog. "It helped to define the Brooklyn aesthetic of the hipster with a beard buying granola and handmade chocolate," Demby says.

Adding food to the Flea proved so successful that Demby and Butler spun off Smorgasburg. Its foodie-party vibe has since been exported not just around the United States (in Miami and Los Angeles), but around the world (there’s a Smorgasburg every July in São Paulo , Brazil).

The two Brooklyn events draw roughly 25,000 people each and operate in multiple locations — but on Sundays, they’re close enough to easily visit back-to-back. Our advice: Hit Smorgasburg first to beat the crowds, then head over to the already-bustling Flea. Here’s how to do it.

Getting there

You can drive if you need to, but parking spaces on Brooklyn streets can be scarce and garages can be expensive. Better to take the Long Island Rail Road to Atlantic Terminal, then move through Brooklyn by subway. Ride-shares are another good option; you won’t be going far, so trips shouldn’t be too expensive.
 

First stop: Grab a bite at Smorgasburg in Prospect Park

From Atlantic Terminal, take a Brooklyn-bound B or Q train two stops to the Prospect Park station, then walk west through the park's leafy paths roughly 10 minutes to Breeze Hill. You’ll pass through a checkpoint where you can show ID for a wristband if you plan to purchase alcohol.Take a stroll past the food stands — close to 60 — lined up around a grassy field with picnic tables. You’ll find Indonesian, Chinese and Filipino cuisine alongside more traditional fare like fried mozzarella sticks, lobster rolls and po’boys. Prices vary, but most main dishes run about $15. The vendors at Smorgasburg have been selected for a certain "authenticity," says Demby. "It can’t just be the cool new thing."

Take Tanty Darlene’s Kitchen, a Trinidadian food stand run by Darlene Vincent and her daughter, Afisha Chong. Vincent, a native of Trinidad, came here in 1996 and worked as a house cleaner and babysitter, sometimes selling home cooking on the side. In 2020, Vincent and her daughter — both Brooklynites — started Tanty Darlene’s. Their menu includes native staples like aloo pie (a fried, samosa-like pastry), but Chong suggests trying her mother’s curry crab and dumplings, a harder-to-find dish borrowed from Trinidad’s sister island, Tobago.
"It’s something that's not really sold street-wise," Chong says, "but it's a good dish to just sit and eat."

If you’ve got your wristband, wash your meal down with a craft beer, an Aperol Spritz or some Boozy Lemonade (with your choice of spirit). Prices range from $11 to $16. Nonalcoholic beverages are also available.

Next stop: Shop for treasures at Brooklyn Flea

Now that you’re nourished, walk west out of the park toward the 15 St.-Prospect Park subway station and take a Manhattan-bound F train to the York St. station. You can’t miss the Flea: Just follow the crowds and the music pumped out by the live DJ.
Under the arch, you’ll see what looks like the world’s coolest mall, jam-packed with racks of Hawaiian shirts, crates of vinyl, shelves of beat-up cowboy boots — and that’s just the normal stuff. You’ll also find piles of random silverware, a table full of refrigerator magnets made from poker chips and an astonishingly large collection of "vintage" camcorders and digital cameras. Customers "just like the old vibe," says vendor Henry Dorado.

One of the Flea’s truly unique offerings: Iki Kimono NYC, a kimono shop run by Monica Minier. At her corner of the Flea, you’ll find roughly 200 kimonos, for both women and men, with prices ranging from $75 to $250. Worn the right way, Minier says, they can work as a jacket, a dress or a duster.
"I have a bit more of a Western-fashion, New York-style eye," says Minier, who opened her first brick-and-mortar store, in Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood, last year. "I've sort of invented this draping technique that allows you to wear really long ones in a modern way."

Even if you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can enjoy browsing, listening to the DJ and possibly bellying up to one of the Flea’s two bars. It’s an atmosphere you’re not likely to find in too many other places, says Beck Forney, who’s been selling handmade leather wallets, keychains and passport holders at the Flea for several years. "I've done markets in California, across the country, New York, the Hamptons — and this one is different," Forney says. "There's a sparkle here that sets it apart."

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com@raferguzman