Is Brooklyn Flea ‘apartheid’ or are Williamsburg residents NIMBY trash?

If you were a broker trying to rent an apartment in Williamsburg to a recent New York transplant, how would you advertise the overpriced shoebox? Probably you'd mention the rich cultural offerings – a host of cocktail bars, performance venues, bizarrely specific shops, vintage stores galore, fusion food options, lots of young, attractive, creative people, Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg at your doorstep. The Flea and Smorgasburg are in hot water, however, as Williamsburg residents complain they are causing overcrowding (10 to 20,000 people attend a weekend, reportedly), hogging public space and restricting non-market goers allowances at East River State Park – namely, putting up signs outside the park banning outside food or drink, DNAinfo reported. It's a convergence of everyone's favorite Brooklyn schadenfreude sources: the monopolizing one percenters getting slapped on the wrist by the people and NIMBYs acting out against a problem of their own creation. Brooklyn Flea has now canceled… Read More >