The first flea of the summer

By ShellMay 6, 2018

I’m taking my new shoes out for their first spin today. Marino wool uppers so they feel like the comfiest slippers you’ve ever had on your feet. I love a pair of shoes that you just know from the get go are going to be winners.

So we were heading over the Brooklyn for our first flea market. We popped down to 49th Street to get the yellow line right to the front door.

They don’t like to make things easy – I don’t even think native New Yorkers would be able to decipher this clue as to what train is stopping here.

The market was on at a place called Industry City – Renovated warehouses made into an awesome space.

There was live music and lots of kids dancing around with hula hoops.

The stalls were few and far between mostly selling things that we either didn’t need or couldn’t carry in our suitcases.

There were a few gorgeous vintage cases there at unbelievably good prices – $39!!!!

A lovely bike with handle bar tassels!

Or what about this original Elizabeth Arden Salon terry towelling number?

I mean that’s pristine terry towelling!

This, however, I purchased. I do so love an old brooch and this one out of a large table of sparklers just spoke to me. It’s pearl peas in a pod!

I lost ML for a while….

She was probably hiding in amongst these jackets… to be honest, I’m surprised I could see the jackets at all!

Industry City is pretty huge and I’m not really sure what is in most of the buildings, but you could walk through the centre in and out of each section.

There were cool cafes and bars where you could do wine and coffee tasting.

This place is called The Helm Bar…

and they hire out ping pong bats and putt putt sticks! Why not?

In between two of the buildings is this amazing garden and green lawn. An oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle.

To be honest we were a little underwhelmed at the amount of market stalls there as we thought it was going to be much bigger… but even so, it was worth the experience and the subway trip to Brooklyn.

On our way back to the subway we had a little look around… this was somebody’s front porch lattice.

And how pretty are these houses? They overlook a cemetery….

… it’s full of cherry blossoms, so at least for 1 – 2 weeks a year it’s pretty to look out the front window.

ML is still getting over her lurgy, so I jumped out of the subway at Canal Street and let her head back to the apartment to rest up.

I headed for the streets of China Town in search of dumplings…

Dumplings were found just over the road from Columbus Park.

These were delicious!

I sat and stared at people in the park while the dumplings went down… how lovely are these ladies – they’ve brought their own picnic in a nana trolley.

There was a ladies soccer game going on and people were playing volleyball and shooting hoops.

My adventure continued towards the Brooklyn Bridge. I thought it was a perfect day to walk across – not too hot, not too cold. So I headed further downtown….

Taking in the cherry blossoms as they presented themselves.

Past the Supreme Court…

This photo looks fairly ominous, but this is why you can’t judge books by their cover – these guys were actually friends and the chap on the left was explaining to the his pals how to restore a piece of old furniture. I was across the street and there was traffic, but this guy’s voice was booming!

I made the Brooklyn Bridge and started to cross. There are two dedicated lanes – one for bikes (left and right) and one for walkers (left and right), but they have allowed people to set up souvenir stalls in the right hand side of the walking lane, which means that walkers now only have half a lane to walk both ways – except that people stop to look at the fridge magnets and whatnots, so people have to walk in single file or risk their lives in the bike lane.

I got about 100 metres in and decided that since I’m here for a while, I probably don’t need to do this on a Saturday, and retreated to the safety of the wide footpath

And on the side footpath there was some entertainment brewing. I had seen theses chaps (or another group who do the same thing) last time I was here down in Battery Park. They do all sorts of acrobatics and flips to entice people in, then they get people from their audience to line up and then jump over them.

This guy had plenty of string around his pants to have pulled them up over his Calvins. Sometimes I think people just aren’t trying.

My journey continued past the City Hall building…

It’s always important to look up when you’re in the city – what was the architect thinking when he/she designed this building?

Time to stop and check out how the new shoes are going… so far so good. Really comfy, no blisters and my feet aren’t hot – so that’s great news for everybody.

This is the Croton Fountain – On the Fourth of July, 1842, New York City celebrated the opening of the Croton Aqueduct with a fountain display in City Hall Park. It was built using water pumped in from the aqueduct and had a center jet that could shoot water as high as 50 feet in the air. In 1871, the Croton Fountain was replaced by the park’s current fountain, the Mould Fountain, designed by Jacob Wrey Mould (who also co-designed the Bethesda Fountain).

Just around the corner is the St Paul’s Chapel – the church that survived 9/11.

Last time I was here it was filled with memorabilia as a tribute to the police, fire department and volunteers to lost their lives. Now it’s back to being a church and I’m guessing all the police badges and fireman’s hats have probably moved to the new museum.

The back of the church looks out onto the Freedom Tower, so you can see how close it was to the World Trade Buildings when they went down. It’s amazing how it survived completely unscathed.

On my way uptown I stopped into a Starbucks to grab a coffee and some free wifi. They asked for my name to which I very clearly said “Shelley” and look what they wrote…..

My final mission for the afternoon was to walk up to the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street. I have to say after walking over 10kms today, I was glad to see it in the distance.