Father’s Day » Markets of New York

Market Picks for June 18 & 19, 2011

Wood Inlaid Labrador Cutting Board by Meb's Kitchenwares at the American Craft Fair at Lincoln Center

Well, Friday’s going to be a wet one, but the weekend weather is looking promising for the markets! My Market Picks for this weekend, June 18 & 19, are:

Saturday and Sunday, June 18-19:

Lincoln Center American Crafts Fair: This wonderful show is in its 35th year, so you know it has to be good. A traditional craft show, this event features fine handmade designs from around the country. You can find jewelry designs with gems and precious metal, art glass pieces, handmade clothing and hats, and kitchen items, like the image above of an inlaid cutting board by Meb’s Kitchenwares. Plus it’s fun to hang out at Lincoln Center. Check out their new fountain!

Saturday, June 18:

Arthur Avenue Retail Market: Miss the smells, sounds, and flavors of Manhattan’s Little Italy? Well they’re all alive and well on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. You can pick up fresh, homemade mozzarella, handmade meatballs, and imported Italian pasta in hundreds of shapes and sizes. I go absolutely insane over the gooey, fresh torrone with almonds, which is completely different from the dry version. This market is truly a time capsule of all the wonderful things brought over from Italia last century. Definitely plan on eating lunch there, and pick up some hand rolled cigars for Father’s Day!

East 67th Street Flea Market: The East 67th Street Flea Market has a wonderful variety of vendors, including an independent farmers market and many classic flea and antiques vendors. There is vintage jewelry of all kinds too. I have seen a Cartier watch once owned by Big Edie of Grey Gardens fame, and a collection of vintage showgirl bling. You can also get your watches fixed and batteries changed in the cafeteria area.

DUMBO Epic Stoop Sale: I’ll come clean and say I just found out about this event. (Thanks, Krrb.com and Open Smile Embrace!) Never heard of it, even though this is the third year. So I have no idea what it will be like, but it sounds like a community flea market, and if it’s stuff from DUMBO households, it’s bound to be worthwhile, right?!

Sunday, June 19:

Jackson Heights Greenmarket: The Jackson Heights Greenmarket in Queens is amazing for food shopping and people watching. It sets up on the perimeter of Travers Park, and it is the largest Greenmarket in Queens. In addition to the fresh local produce and products, this market features a wide variety of hot peppers! This weekend’s events include textile recycling and composting.

7th Heaven Street Fair in Park Slope: This is the third annual 7th Heaven Street Fair, and it looks like it’s going to be another great day! Yes, you will see standard NYC street fair vendors, but this event belongs to that small group of fairs that actually involves local businesses. There will be loads of activities, food, and handmade crafts from many of New York’s finest design entrepreneurs. The fair runs from Flatbush Ave. to 16 St. And how about pulling together a team to do the famous 7th Heaven Scavenger Hunt?!

Have a great weekend, and I hope to see you out at the markets!

Citybitz – Mini Tributes to New York City

Artisan of the Week for the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market!

If ever there was a great idea for a New York City artisan, it’s Citybitz’ “photographic creations,” featuring the details and culture of the city.

Artist and designer Joan Huggard creates functional art, such as jewelry, mirrors, card cases, money clips, pillboxes, and compacts, all featuring photographic images. She does her own photography of iconic sites, both macro and micro. She takes beautiful angles of the Flatiron Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Empire State Building. But she also admires the smallest details, like the subway tiles in the Chinatown station, the crosswalk guy, and signs in Coney Island. Images you love and images you’ve never even noticed before show up in Joan’s work.

These items appeal to both New Yorkers and to visitors alike. Joan’s reversible Uptown/Downtown pendant is perfect for those New Yorkers who never go below 14^th Street as well as those who never venture above Houston. The cardholder with the word “Drama,” from a theater façade, is the perfect gift for the drama queens in our lives. For visitors to New York, it is often so hard to find unique, quality souvenirs to take home to friends and family. How many people actually appreciate receiving a foam Statue of Liberty crown (I mean, besides me)? But a money clip with an Empire State Building image, or a necklace with the Coney Island parachute jump on it are beautiful, handmade, and very special souvenirs.

Joan also does custom work. If you are commemorating a special occasion, such as a wedding, a birth, a favorite pet, or anything at all, she can take your images and create a wall mirror or other special items just for you.

Joan will be selling her creations on May 1 and 2 at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market. Citybitz is a regular at the Brooklyn Flea on Saturdays and Sundays, and you can check the Citibitz website for other market dates as well. Citybitz is also a member of the NewNew Etsy Artisans Group, and she sells her work in her Etsy shop online.

Pumpkin & Honey Bunny: Handmade Greeting Cards and Fizzy Sodas

Vendors of the Week for the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market!

Erica Rothchild and Anton Nocito are the team behind Pumpkin & Honey Bunny and P&H Soda and Syrup. It sounded like a cute and sweet name to me, and then I learned that the original Pumpkin & Honey Bunny are the robbers in the opening scene of Pulp Fiction. Gives the name a bit of a different twist, wouldn’t you say?

Erica is a graphic designer who makes beautiful hand-printed greeting cards, and Anton makes old-fashioned artisanal sodas. The theme that ties these two pursuits together is a sense of nostalgia for the early 19^th century that lends an Old World feeling to their work. In Erica’s designs, it is her use of vintage images, like a toast rack or a classic jello-mold. Anton aims to bring back the flavors and culture of old-time soda fountains, where people gathered for a chat, a nosh, and phosphate, or a cold soda freshly made from syrup and seltzer.

Erica’s line of greeting cards currently features primarily food-based themes because she began selling them at the Greenpoint Food Market. She uses a Gocco, which is a Japanese tabletop screen printing device. Erica’s Pumpkin & Honey Bunny cards include images of a pretzel (“Tying the Knot”), an old time oyster vendor, and a cherry pink pie (“Sweetie Pie”), among others. She is working on new designs for the Brooklyn Lyceum Spring Market, including Mother’s and Father’s Day cards. You can also find her cards at several shops in Brooklyn, including Brooklyn Kitchen, Tree House, Tiburon, and Word Bookstore.

Anton trained at the French Culinary Institute, and he is the chef at the cafe at the AKA Hotel in Midtown. He launched P&H Soda and Syrup at the Greenpoint Food Market, and he found that he could barely keep up with the demand at last week’s market. I had the cream soda, which was the perfect blend of sweetness, fizzyness, and cream soda flavor. Anton uses natural ingredients, including organic sugar and fair trade ingredients like hibiscus and ginger, as well as sugar alternatives like agave. In addition to the classics like cream soda and ginger lime, he likes to experiment with flavors, including hibiscus, hyssop, and verbena. He is working on a sarsparilla right now. In the summertime, he uses fruits from the farmers market to make new flavors for his syrups.

On one hand, Anton modestly says, “It’s just soda.” On the other hand, P&H Soda & Syrup has a great deal of thought and craft behind it. Personally, I can’t wait for him to open his soda fountain, but in the interim, I’ll be happy to drink his sodas at the Brooklyn Lyceum Market. He is also giving a soda making class on May 20th at the Brooklyn Kitchen.

You can see Erica’s cards on her Pumpkin & Honey Bunny Etsy Shop, and you can keep up with Anton on his blog, P&H Soda and Syrup, Inc. Meet them both at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Food and Craft Market on May 1 & 2 and also at the monthly Greenpoint Food Market.