NQD: Third Ave Flea Market

NQD 1 — Saturday 9/11/21 10th St and 3rd Ave Flea Market: This story fell into my lap a little bit, I walked outside my apartment door and there were 3 booths being set up. I was originally going to do my NQD on Palladium and the reopening of the exercise areas, but I figured that this was a little more outside my comfort zone and I’ve been to only one other NYC flea market.

• Notes: Flea market on 10th St and 3rd Ave, conveniently located right outside my apartment door.
• People selling clothes, vintage trinkets, home decor, art, records, jewelry, accessories
• Most booths had more than one “item”, for instance numerous were selling both clothes and home decor
• Everyone seems to be local, many students, friendly environment, people giving off a sort of familiarity
• Majority of the vendors were wearing masks, however the buyers seemed to be 50/50
• Crowded streets, noisy and lively
• Many of the vendors had signs indicating how to pay/ where proceeds were going
• Almost reminds me of an outdoor thrift store, many vendors set up next to people they knew, and were making suggestions on what other booths to look at
• Clothing for both men and women being sold, saw mainly dressed, jackets/ coats

Quotes:

• There were many people doing some sort of price negotiation with vendors, all very respectfully
• Overheard- Woman in front of me held up a vase and asked a vendor if he “could let this go fro $20”, to which he agreed and she paid
• Jordan Janowski NYU Sophomore: “I recently just moved into a new apartment so I love coming to flea markets like this one to find new home decor. It’s cheap and I also love having unique pieces in my home rather than going to a place like Target for furniture.”
• Bianca Notarainni NYU Senior: “My roommate actually told me about this market, she found a really nice vintage dress and suggested I come look at the clothing. People don’t realize how many nice clothes there are here, there’s so many like hidden gems. This is my first time at this flea market and everyone has been so friendly.``
• Overheard- A girl walking by me turned to her two friends and said “This place is so cute let’s go get everyone else and come back”
• I had one unsuccessful interview. I think the girl was here for fashion week, she was dressed in a very formal dress, she told me her name was Piper and was hesitant to give me anymore information so I of course did not pry. “I’m just here browsing, not looking for anything specific”, then hurried away

Details:

• Flea Market on 10th St between 2nd and 3rd Ave
• Open from around 11am to 6:30pm
• Vintage vendors set up booths to sell a variety of items- clothing, shoes, artwork, appliances, home decor, records, accessories
• Strategically located right off of NYU’s main campus where a majority of students live
• Attracted visitors of all age however
• From my observation, the majority of shoppers were groups of 3–5 girls
• The busiest hours seemed to be from around 1pm to 4pm, then picked up again for the last hour as people seemed to be shopping before their dinner plans
• Sellers ranged in ages, some looked to be in their early 20’s while others could have been 60+