what an awesome idea!
Love it – will promote it as much as I can.

Comment by hallie — July 25, 2008 @ 1:28 am

The Brooklyn Flea is hands down one of the best things that has happened in the area! Last Sunday, I scored a record by my fave band (“The Royal Scam” by Steely Dan), so I’m 100% in favor of The Flea. To hell with these people with their negative attitudes and their “let’s keep Brookyn the way it was” mindset.

Comment by The Changeling — July 23, 2008 @ 9:55 am

Screw them – i say move it to the school playground of Francis Scott Key middle school on Kent…big yard, no fuss from cranky neighbors

Comment by Anonymous — July 23, 2008 @ 10:18 am

Profit goes to Jonathan Butler and it is on public land.

Comment by Anonymous — July 23, 2008 @ 10:23 am

I’m sure Jonathan Butler isn’t the only one profiting. The local restaurants and groceries are profiting from vendors alone. And then there are the shoppers coming into the neighborhood…

Comment by Anonymous — July 23, 2008 @ 10:37 am

Fuck Him!!!!!

The What

Someday this war is gonna end…

Comment by Anonymous — July 23, 2008 @ 10:51 am

Old time NIMBY vs. gentrifier NIMBY — this is getting good.

Comment by Anonymous — July 23, 2008 @ 11:17 am

not to mention the parking police natzis,
last sunday it cost me a additional 115.00 for front tires in a bus zone.most likely the heat killed the traffic and buyers.!!!!!lost money!!!!

Comment by Mohawk — July 23, 2008 @ 11:19 am

Right on. It totally is about the church feeling less important on the
block. I was told they even offered the church a free booth to do outreach. I think they should have taken up the booth to invite people to at least step in and look at the church inside as a landmark/beautiful church and also have the doors open with greeters inviting passersby in but I guess it’s all services all day Sunday. Even so I am sure it’s beautiful inside and people would step in and look if invited in by some greeters/the booth in the Flea, and then the would inevitably catch a few wayward souls looking for a spiritual home who would then become parishioners and give money, and that’s what it’s all about. But since they don’t want to capitalize on the free booth, or the crowds going by, I guess they don’t need money as a parish. They just want the double parking. Too bad, so sad. Don’t they know that ever since shops were allowed to open on Sundays, circa 1980, shopping trumps church on Sundays in New York? And everywhere else in America, pretty much? That just caught up to them.

I am glad Councilwoman James is on our side but if you think for two seconds how much money we as vendors and all the shoppers spend on Sundays buying water, sandwiches (vendors) meals and drinks, brunch (shoppers), etc. all day on DeKalb, you’d have to be crazy not to!

Comment by anonvendor — July 23, 2008 @ 11:36 am

I parked near that church one Sunday a.m. while visiting a friend who lives on Clermont. I returned to find my car blocked in by two cars. I had to go to the church and complain. Ten minutes later, two drivers come out, don’t apologize or acknowledge their gaffe in any way, and shoot me dirty looks. So much for being a good Christian. Viva Brooklyn Flea!

Comment by CML — July 23, 2008 @ 12:13 pm

@Anonymous 10:23 am -

“public land”? You know Bishop Loughlin is a Catholic school right?

Comment by Anonymous — July 23, 2008 @ 12:33 pm

I wish they would move to Bedford Stuyvesant your right we could use the money in our area… The Old Girls High School on Nostrand would be the perfect place to set up the flea. This location is very close to the AC stop.

Comment by Amzi Hill — July 23, 2008 @ 1:45 pm

Nostrand would be perfect! I could just roll out of bed and be there.

Comment by RH — July 23, 2008 @ 2:20 pm

I’m going to try to be at the meeting. It seems like a no brainer that this is good for the community. And I don’t care if Jon Butler is making money, he should be. He did the work to put it together, he brought on Eric Demby to run it, and both of them are up at the crack of dawn to make it work. Of course they should make money. That’s what running a business is about, and this is a business.

Well, I agree, Bed Stuy will take it in a heartbeat, and that would certainly be good for me as well, as I could roll my stuff down Nostrand Ave to the Girl’s HS, it’s only 6 blocks away. Boys High on Marcy would also be a great location, much more scenic, but I don’t think their parking lot is as big. And Concord Baptist might not be too thrilled. OK – I vote for Girls High.

Comment by Silver Nest — July 23, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

Every time I read or hear someone say the “flea” instead of flea market, it’s like nails on a blackboard. I don’t know why it irks me so much, but I can’t stand the abbreviation.

Comment by ed — July 24, 2008 @ 12:33 am

They should be up at the crack of dawn. It is called a job, whattayatheywant a metal or sumthin?

Comment by Anonymous — July 27, 2008 @ 12:02 am

My website has been integrated with Goantiques since 2002. I think their fees are reasonable, especially if you have many items online since they don’t charge per item per month. However,in the past couple of years, I think they have geared themselves more to getting more dealers and filling their ebay live auctions ( which is really a dead end since ebay is stopping their live auctions at the end of the year)than getting new retail customers.
With ebays fixed price listing promotion it makes me wonder if they will be phasing out auctions altogether.
Goantiques interface is easy to use to upload items. Be careful of all the scammer emails coming in from Mexico, the border towns, and overseas.

Comment by BungalowBILL — July 22, 2008 @ 9:13 am

I’ve been getting a lot of fake emails for items I have listed on ebay (but I don’t have any items at the moment). I’m pretty sure it’s a virus because it starts to download something when you click on the item link.

Comment by RH — July 22, 2008 @ 12:18 pm

Wow, really gorgeous. Have you considered varying shades of grey?

Comment by Renovation Therapy — July 21, 2008 @ 7:47 am

Hmm, I haven’t used grey paint in a long, long time because my rooms as a tween and teen were always grey (my choice). Brings back memories of Starsky and Hutch posters, unrequited love and pints of Haagen Dazs. I suppose I can move forward and revisit that color.

Comment by RH — July 21, 2008 @ 8:44 am

Take a look at Benjamin Moore’s Patriotic White — it’s actually a very light blue…can look greenish depending on how the light hits it, and it plays well off of “non-natural” light to really brighten the space. I tested a million colors and used this for our main living space for the same reasons you say: dark woodwork everywhere, needed to open it up, etc. Why not white wainscoting (not boring – crisp!), then a light blue on the non-wainscoted part of the walls, with silver/gold for the inlay.

Comment by laura @ the shorehouse — July 21, 2008 @ 9:18 am

I’m usually way too lazy and impatient to test colors, but I might have to in this case. Every photo I’ve seen, I prefer white wainscoting with color on the walls, however, the photographer in me is saying the light is going to bounce better off the upper walls. Maybe I could do one side one way and the other side the opposite and then take a light reading and see if there’s a real difference in light reflection? Of course I’m not really that anal!

Comment by RH — July 21, 2008 @ 2:13 pm

“Maybe I could do one side one way and the other side the opposite and then take a light reading and see if there’s a real difference in light reflection?”

– OMG…I’m buying you a cocktail.

Comment by laura @ shorehouse chic. — July 21, 2008 @ 3:58 pm

I’ve also noticed a lot of places painting the wainscoting the same color as the walls — and I really like that look…

Comment by iloveupstate.com — July 21, 2008 @ 5:42 pm

I love a combination of a linen white for the wainscoting, and a pale robin’s egg blue- lighter than the actual color- maybe 50%- for the wall, and then a warm silver, actually almost platinum for the inlay. You could also think about a soft (Behr) sesame color for the inlay too. It’s a warm greeny-tan. hard to describe, pretty in person..

If you want to do something a little differnt, you could try using the blue as a wash over the white to bring up the detail, but since you’ve salvaged the natural wood in the rest of the house, have a little paint fun here.

Of course you could also bleach the oak or use a white stain so you see the grain but the wainscot is white.

Comment by bx2bklyn — July 21, 2008 @ 6:24 pm

Thanks! “Robin’s Egg Blue” sounds pretty. Don’t know what it looks like in person, but I’ll check it out. I hope I’m not just leaning towards cool colors because it’s so damn hot out! I usually like to use warming colors in a room. Yeah, I’ll be painting it fire engine red come winter.

Comment by RH — July 22, 2008 @ 7:09 am

I like the idea of white wainscoting. I have a very dark hallway on the ground floor of my limestone, and painting the tongue and groove wainscoting white made it pop. It’s a shade warmer than optical white, which was actually someone’s Home Depot reject, which I got for $5. It was perfect. Nothing short of movie lights will make the hallway light, so I decided to go dark English Victorian estate on the walls, and sponged a combo of navy, hunter green, gold, copper and silver on the walls, washed with a tobacco glaze to look as if it had been there since Lincoln. It’s not for everyone, but I like it. My preference is for darker, warmer colors, as well, but it can get depressing if everything is like that.

Back to you – I like the idea of white wainscote with a light wall color, very light blue, sea foam, or spring green. I would then jazz that up with a stencilled jacquard pattern, perhaps adding texture by using joint compound to make the patterns, and washing them with a subtle silver glaze. I’m very much into texture and pattern these days, and like doing the unexpected. Just putting a single color on the wall never seems to be deep enough. I want people to look at the walls and try to figure out what’s going on. (Hopefully that will distract them from the other things not done, or miss the dust monsters rolling by.)

Comment by Silver Nest — July 22, 2008 @ 10:41 am

Back to say I have a similar screen. Making radiator covers is a brilliant idea. Thanks!!

Comment by Silver Nest — July 22, 2008 @ 10:44 am

“I would then jazz that up with a stencilled jacquard pattern, perhaps adding texture by using joint compound to make the patterns, and washing them with a subtle silver glaze.”

Thanks for the offer! Ok, when do you want to come by?

Ok, white wainscot, light blue walls. Done.

Comment by RH — July 22, 2008 @ 12:23 pm

http://www.designamour.com/

I love this woman, and her business.

While there are many great ideas, check her June 30th entry for the look I was talking about: pale blue with silver textured damask. It could be a fun project, we’ll talk.

Comment by Silver Nest — July 22, 2008 @ 3:25 pm

OMG, why did you show me that blog? You’re BAD!

Comment by RH — July 22, 2008 @ 5:39 pm

[...] next week (or the following week, or the one after that). Thanks to all of you who helped with my color decision. Here’s how it’s turning [...]

Pingback by Reclaimed Home: Green Low Impact Housing Renovation of New York, Brooklyn, New Jersey — July 28, 2008 @ 7:06 am

Just remember to dilute the soap with about 50% water if you put it in a pump dispenser so it doesn’t clog and shoot you in the eye and send you to the hospital. Castille soap burns like a mofo!

Comment by Lola — July 19, 2008 @ 1:33 am

Was there a sale on exclamation points?

just yankin’ yer chain…

Comment by Renovation Therapy — July 19, 2008 @ 2:54 pm

As all users of these products know, exclamation points are THE main feature of Bronner’s packaging copy; so it seems that RH was just channeling the “Doctor” himself.

Apparently he was a serious wacko (didn’t someone recently make a documentary about the family?), but the soap is wonderful, and now even made from Fair Trade ingredients. I just started washing my dishes with (diluted) Sal-Suds, and it’s great as well.

Comment by Anne — July 19, 2008 @ 10:03 pm