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Bike pouch from MOS Atelier. Opera singer by night, master craftsman Marc Owen Schreiner hand-stitches gorgeous bags and accessories using hand-dyed leathers. You can meet him in person at the Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory.
Markets of New York
All About the City's Best Artisan, Farmer, Food, and Flea Markets
The markets of New York not only offer shoppers the rare opportunity to meet the people who make the things that we love; they also provide a place for creative people to meet, become friends, and start getting really big ideas. The Better Than Jam Co-Op in Bushwick, Brooklyn is one such idea. It is an exciting example of the entrepreneurial and creative spirit that takes root in the markets and grows into an innovative enterprise.
Printmaker and clothing designer Karin Persan opened the co-op just a few weeks ago, and she carries the designs from many of the talented artisans and designers who sell their products at markets such as the Brooklyn Indie Market, the Makers Market, the Brooklyn Flea, and others. The design quality and craftsmanship is outstanding, and Persan also aims to keep prices affordable. This shop is open 7 days a week, so if you can’t make it to your favorite market on the weekend, you can always stop by and do some shopping at the co-op on weekdays.
The current designers include Persan’s brand, Better Than Jam, as well as Joann Berman’s seriously fun and funky high-fashion pieces inspired by “green, hip-hop, skateboard culture, graffiti, Bushwick.” At the other end of the spectrum are the dainty and feminine handmade dresses of Melissa Bell NYC. KimmChi’s silk-screened apparel and the handmade clothing from the Soft Movement are stylish and comfortable.
Designs by Himane are about as environmentally conscious as any I’ve seen. The one-of-a-kind clothing is made from “hand-picked, locally-sourced, recycled clothing, donated fabrics, and broken umbrellas.” I actually recognized the fabric on one of their clever bag designs from an umbrella decorated with photo images of blue glass beads that I gave my sister Andrea. What, I ask you, are the odds of that?
There are also several wonderful jewelry designers, some of whom are featured in my upcoming guidebook. Caja Jewelry makes clean and clever hand-cut jewelry designs, including name plates ála Sex in the City, puzzle pieces, kitties, florals, or lungs. Knitknit Knits has whimsical felted and knit necklaces, earrings, and brooches. My mother loved the necklace from Andy’s House of Design that I got her for her 29th (ahem) birthday.
The BTJ Co-op is in the up and coming Loom Building shops. The Loom is just getting going, with BTJ, a welcoming knitting cafe, an antiques shop, and some art galleries, with more to come.
Better Than Jam Co-op: 1095 Flushing Ave. (corner of Porter Ave.), a few short blocks from the Morgan St. stop on the L Train. Open every day from 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Felted cameo necklaces by the ridiculously talented Nguyen Le of Knitknit Knits of the Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory, the Brooklyn Indie Market, and more. She’s giving a workshop on how to do needle felting at the Better Than Jam Designers Co-Op on Saturday, 2/27 from 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM.
Whether love is in the air for you or not, there are some great artisan and food events planned for this weekend. Clearly Brooklyn “hearts” Valentine’s Day! (Check the Markets of New York City Facebook Page for updates!)
Greenpoint Food Market: A Food Affair
Saturday February 13th, Noon – 5:00 PM
Church Of Messiah
129 Russell St., Greenpoint, Brooklyn
http://www.greenpointfoodmarket.wordpress.com/
Greenpoint Food Market is a monthly event people who are “inspired by all foods fresh and local, artisanal and handmade.” This weekend’s Valentine’s event, “A Food Affair” is a mix of innovative foods and food-related items. (Personally, I’m kind of excited about the Kissing Booth!)
“The day will feature a cascade of lovely treats: from aphrodisiac inspired recipes to heart shaped cookies, a photo kissing booth courtesy fellow Greenpointers Color Me Katie and Hyla Skopitz, a secret foodmirer bulletin board to share your food crushes and indulgences, and a heart-hunt: find the heart, win a GFM goodie bag. We are also very pleased to present music by DJ Jimmy T and a performance by Rifle Recoil @ 3pm. We are also grateful to add to a growing list of food-related artworks by artists Jessie Oleson and Jesse Kuhn who will share a few prints on food and love!”
Valentine Fling – Brooklyn Indie and The NewNew
Saturday February 13
11:00 AM – 6:00 PM at Starting Artists
211 Smith Street (at Starting Artists), Brooklyn
Brooklyn Indie Market
The NewNew
The Brooklyn Indie Market is partnering this weekend with the NewNew Artisans for a Valentine’s Day Art Bazaar:
“Valentine’s Day can strike dread in the heart of the hardiest New Yorker: If you’re coupled, there’s the delicate dance of aligning your own celebratory expectations with those of your beloved; if you’re unhappily single, all the emphasis on romance can be special kind of torture. In response to this, Brooklyn Indie Market and The {NewNew} are joining forces to present A Valentine Fling: A day of fun, flirting, and handmade shopping on Smith Street.”
Park Slope/Gowanus Market and the Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory
Sunday 11 AM – 5:00PM
232 3rd Street at 3rd Ave, Gowanus/Park Slope Brooklyn
Community Markets
The Makers Market
The partnership between the Makers Market Artisans and Community Market’s local farmers continues this weekend. You will definitely get all your Valentine’s Day shopping done here: top quality handmade gifts, dinner ingredients, and wine included!
“Kiernan Farm Grass Fed Beef is joining the market. Along with their fabulous grass fed beef meat, they’ll offer honey, maple syrup and Sprout Creek Cheese! Manhattan Milk is selling farm fresh products including cream-top grass-fed yogurt, yogurt smoothies, milk and eggs! Adair Vineyard is offering their array of Hudson Valley wines and Made by Molly is featuring chocolate chubbies with roasted, salted almonds!”
Artists and Fleas: Valentine’s Day with a Twist
Saturday and Sunday, February 13-14, 2010 at 12:00pm – 8:00pm
Artists & Fleas: Indoor Artist & Designer Market
129 N 6th St Between Bedford and Berry in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
www.artistsandfleas.com,
Facebook Event Invitation
Artists and Fleas in Williamsburg has great handmade and vintage items every weekend, but this weekend’s special “Un-Valentine’s Day” is bound to have something special for everyone!
“Artists & Fleas kicks off another year of de-cupid-ifying events. Want to shop for those you love or those you no longer love? Get on your spite with some of the delicious delinquency that the folks behind Dirty Bandits have cooked up. They know that life can sometimes throw you a curveball and the only way to live is to play.”
Pop-Up Shop: Liddabit Sweets & Kumquat Cupcakery
Open now through Sunday February 14, 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Kill Devil Hill, 170 Franklin St (between Java and Kent Sts), Brooklyn, NY
Time Out New York Announcement
Kill Devil Hill Blog
Kumquat Cupcakery
Liddabit Sweets
Two sweethearts of New York’s artisanal food world, Liddabit Sweets and Kumquat Cupakery, are teaming up this weekend to open a Pop-Up Shop at Kill Devil Hill in Brooklyn. Their Valentine’s Day specials include 1 or 2 dozen rose and gem min-cupcakes or a box of handmade chocolates and candies. They’ll also have their most popular items to satisfy even the bitterest sweet tooth!
Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone from Markets of New York City! ♥
I have been thinking about Valentine’s Day, for obvious reasons. So I thought I would write about a very happy union in Brooklyn: the Makers Market and Community Markets at the Old American Can Factory.
The Makers Market is a great destination if you are seeking finely crafted handmade products. And now you can buy your veggies for the week there too! During this freezing winter season, the Makers Market and Community Markets have joined forces to create an indoor artisan and farmers’ market for the Gowanus/Park Slope neighborhoods. Community Markets runs farmers’ markets throughout Westchester and Rockland Counties, as well as New York City. Normally, many of their markets close for the winter season. So it is a great service and resource for the local communities to have easy access to fresh, delicious and locally grown produce.
The farmers include Breezy Hill Orchard, Gajeski Produce and Phillips Farm. You can pick up a delicious loaf of bread from the “oven artisans” at Orwasher’s Bakery. They also sell their miche, levain and focaccia and more at Citarella, Dean & Deluca, and Zabar’s. Get a taste of pungent pickle goodness from Dr. Pickle. I got half a dozen great ideas for canapés for our next dinner party, starting with pepperoncini stuffed with goat cheese. Yum. And don’t pass up Buddhapesto or their tempting tray of samples. Their artisanal basil pesto is delicious, so go ahead and “enlighten your tastebuds.”
There is wine at the markets too, from Brooklyn Oenology. I bet you didn’t know there is a winery headquartered in Williamsburg/Greenpoint. The actual winemaking is done in Long Island, but their wines carry the artisanal spirit of the borough. For a tasty and healthy dessert, Tierra Farm sells chocolate covered nuts and fruits, as well as dry roasted products.
The artisans share the large welcoming space that originally served as a loading dock for the Old American Can Factory. The white walls and steel pillars provide a beautiful setting for these extremely talented people to sell their creations. I wrote about some of these artisans over the holidays. May Luk Ceramics, or “Take Me Homeware,” brings art and wit to your table. (See the photo of her “Saucy” bowl, which I gave to my sister Andrea for Christmas.) Parable Ink creates T-shirts that tell a story (they keep selling out of their gorgeous Blue Elephant design in my size!). If you’re looking to spruce up your sweaters, Shaya NYC, Christine Vasan and Ed Ledner all sell wonderfully unique handmade jewelry.
And there are the comfortable and fashionable clothing designs by ANgeLRoX Apparel. The ANgeLRoX reversible “turtles” keep your neck toasty and come in beautiful accent colors. You will find beautiful poetry books from Ugly Duckling Presse; preserves, chutneys and more from SchoolHouse Kitchen; beautiful and thought-provoking fine artwork by Nicola Ginzel; and so much more.
It may be cold outside, but it’s warm and toasty on Sundays inside the Old Can Factory.
Community Markets Park Slope Indoor Farmers’ Market and Makers Market: Sundays 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM, 232 Third Street (at Third Avenue) through March 2010.
A lot of people think the farmers markets shut down for the winter. Most of them do, but seventeen Greenmarkets are open each week, and Community Markets is partnering with the Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory to hold an indoor farmers market in Gowanus starting this weekend.
I love the markets in the winter: I feel like some kind of pioneer, bundling up first thing in the morning when it’s 22ºF outside to go out for provisions. (When it’s warm outside, it’s “food,” but when it’s freezing, it’s “provisions.”)
James and I went to Abingdon Square for apples from Red Jacket Orchards to make applesauce tomorrow. Since it wasn’t too windy out, we continued on to the Union Square Market to see what wintery things are on offer there and to take a picture of a perfect pretzel from Martin’s Pretzels for the book (which is in its final stages).
What caught my eye? Wool! And not scratchy, rustic wool, but soft, rich, lustrous yarns that would set any knitter’s heart aflutter. In addition to offering beautiful “artisanal sheep’s milk cheese,” 3-Corner Field Farm had buckets of luscious undyed yarn from their sheep. This weekend they also had sweet, tiny baby hats. Catskill Merino Sheep Farm offers a wide variety of meat products from their herds, and they also have a full spectrum of colored yarns. You can’t miss their tent – it’s the one with the bundles of yarn hanging all around it. They offer undyed and hand-dyed yarns in four weights. I picked out a skein of the heaviest weight undyed yarn to make, oh, something deliciously soft and cozy. I can’t wait to start knitting with it. (I’m no master knitter, but my sister-in-law Judy and I just got some great new needles at Purl in Soho.)
In addition to fine yarns, there are things at the markets that you really want because it’s winter, primarily delicious, steamy, hot apple cider dipped out of huge pots on hotplates. Root vegetables abound, and grainy breads are irresistible. I loved the Garlic Raspberry Jelly from Berkshire Berries. Not only is it a beautiful, translucent pink color, but it satisfies both sweet and savory cravings.
And then there’s the gallon and half-gallon bottles of Deep Mountain Maple Syrup from Vermont. That should get me through the next week of winter!
I wish us all great courage as we face the final weekend of holiday shopping! In addition to the big, traditional holiday markets at Union Square, Columbus Circle, Bryant Park, and Grand Central, there are multiple indie markets that are in full swing this weekend.
The Makers Market at the Old American Can Factory
The Makers Market is has artisans and fine artists selling high quality handmade items. Meow Meow Tweet sells great smelling natural handmade soaps. ANgeLRoX Apparel has design for comfort, versatility and style, and I love the signature wings that emblazon the back pockets of their jeans and undies. May Luk Ceramics will be there with fine, fun, useful and quirky ceramic plates, cups, vases and more. I’ll bet the man who has everything doesn’t have a hand-stitched leather briefcase from MOS Atelier – and he definitely needs one. If you missed getting a beautiful graphic T-shirt from Parable Ink at the Grand Central Holiday Market, you can catch up with them here.
The Makers Market: Old American Can Factory, 232 3rd Street, Gowanus, Brooklyn, in the garage. Open this weekend Saturday and Sunday 11AM – 6PM.
Brooklyn Lyceum Holiday Craft Market
The Brooklyn Lyceum is hosting their two-day holiday craft market this weekend with almost 70 exhibitors. Many of them will be there for just one of the days, so if you are tempted to visit this market on both days, go right ahead because you will find different things on both days. There will be a DJ and plenty of “crafty” food to keep you energized. The event organizers have created wider aisles this year to make it more comfortable to wander and browse on the last shopping day of the weekend. You can make it a day for the whole family with lunch at the Lyceum Café, now serving Inteligentsia Coffee, and a show at the Children’s Theater.
Brooklyn Lyceum: Saturday and Sunday, December 19 – 20, 11A – 7 P
Our Lady of Pompeii Market on Bleecker Street
This is the last weekend for the flea market/artisan market on Bleecker Street sidewalk next to Our Lady of Pompeii Church in the Village (between Carmine and Leroy Streets). You can find some great vintage hats and jewelry, as well as hand-knit hats and scarves, vintage Bakelite pieces, and much more. The market will reopen in April when the weather warms up a bit.
Jingle Xmas Xtravaganza at Chelsea Market
Chelsea Market has a pretty much everything you will need for your holiday feasts, and it also hosts the Jingle Xmas Xtravaganza! This market has 17 nice-sized boutiques, all selling unique designs and many beautiful gifts. It is a happy market where you can chat with the designers about their work and the kinds of things you are seeking. I am hoping for two farmers market posters by Yeehaw Industries, and maybe, if I’m lucky, their sign that says, “Carve That Possum.” Elements/Jill Schwarz designs gorgeous “vintage groove” jewelry, picture frames and more. For modern jewelry designs, stop by and see sterling silver and recycled coconut shell jewelry with semi-precious stones from Ayala Jewelry. There is a full list of the vendors with photos and links on Facebook.
Jingle Xmas Xtravaganza: Mon – Fri 10:30A – 7P, Saturday 10A – 7P, Sunday 10:30 A – 6P
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