NYC Markets, episode 1. In which I love New York.

I love New York.  

New Yorkers NEVER say "I heart New York" because it's just not right (besides, that's too cute and if it's one thing New Yorkers don't like it's "too cute").  New Yorkers also don't like to be told what they think or how to say their city (and state) motto, so I'll cut it off right there.  Although I haven't lived in New York since the late 80s, I'm still a native New Yorker and I know the score by now (with deep melodic thanks to Odyssey for their agelessly awesome disco anthem which was released about the same time as New York City's similarly hard-to-forget ad campaign).  As a (not-so-ageless) native New Yorker living 1,700 miles away, I become very nostalgic even though I actually grew up about 30 miles north of the City (that's how we New Yorkers refer to it--it's NEVER Manhattan, either, just "the City") in the sleepy little town of Tarrytown.  My nostalgia and Mari's and my travel fervor have led to one or two longish weekends annually to the City for about the past ten years.  On our agenda typically are two or three Broadway shows, an equal number of hearty visits to favorite restaurants, and weekend fleamarketing at some of our favorite flea markets in the world.  

Since we have fleamarketed multiple trips to New York City over the years, my photos and reflections will necessarily be an amalgam of our experiences and will hopefully entice you to journey to the City and add fleamarketing to your own "to do" list.

Be sure to see "the sights"

if it's your first visit, of course.

There are four fleas in particular that I'm going to joyfully revisit and recommend in upcoming posts:

the Annex Markets (Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea), the GreenFlea, and the Brooklyn Flea at Fort Greene.  

First, one of my favorite trip photos and one of the things I love most about New York City.  This photo happened while randomly walking down the street in the spring. Gotta love the juxtaposition of industrial fauna with urban flora.  
If you've never been to the City,
be prepared to have your expectations similarly jolted.
It's never what you expect.

You will find the New York City from film, from television, from books, from travel guides and magazines, as well as the New York City from co-workers, friends, and relatives recently returned from exciting-harrowing-enchanting-upsetting-overwhelming and otherwise vivid journeys to the Big Apple (also an expression you'd never hear from a New Yorker's own no-nonsense lips).  A visit to the City is what you make of it and its success results from what you bring to it, attitude included.  Be positive and be friendly (because New Yorkers are optimistically good people) and you will be richly rewarded.

This next explosion of spring happens annually at the Macy's Flower Show at Macy's flagship Herald Square store.  For the two weeks leading up to Easter, the street level in-store displays bloom with an overabundance of natural color and perfume that rival anything available for sale in the glamorous bottles and glittery tubes displayed at the well-stocked counters.

Why am I at Macy's during a fleamarketing adventure you may ask?  Okay, you caught me.  I do occasionally step into a retail store, mostly to bargain/clearance shop (and take photos).  Besides, Macy's is one of "the sights."  It's always on my list.  Actually, if you are visiting from out-of-town, stop at the visitor center inside Macy's for a coupon book and store guide (you'll need the map if you plan not to get hopelessly lost and/or find a meeting place if you become untethered from your party).

Spring colors are bursting out of doors, too, and help ground New Yorkers and visitors alike when it seems as if the pavement and sky have permanently coalesced into a wintry melancholy gray.

I had hoped to wet your Big Apple appetite a little with this bright collage of spring photos before diving into the Annex Markets, but dive in we shall because New York fleas bloom all year long.

The Hell's Kitchen Flea Market on West 39th (open at 9:00 AM) is usually our first stop on a Saturday morning, followed by lunch, followed by a full afternoon at the Chelsea Flea.

Now, you know I'm not one to just skip over lunch like that (with just a cursory, comma-wrapped phrase!), so allow me to elaborate because there is a plan, a list, and a perfectly and scrumptiously convenient lunch location with the perfect sloppy-but-not-too-sloppy sloppy joes.

It all started while we were watching Food Network this time. Mari and I discovered Schnipper's Quality Kitchen after watching a Throwdown with Bobby Flay episode in which Flay actually bested the restaurant's tried-and-true traditional sloppy joes recipe. Schnipper's has been indelibly inscribed on our New York trip list ever since, not just for its incredibly-convenient-to-Hell's-Kitchen-Flea location, but for its remarkably perfect fusion of sloppy and joe.

visit schnippers.com

for additional locations & menus

Just two short blocks away at West 41st and 8th, Schnipper's is the perfect location to regroup and refuel after a few hours at the Hell's Kitchen flea.  Before we refuel, however, let's get to some fleamarketing.

I would like to wish all of my fellow fleamarketers,
travelers, and readers a joyful Easter weekend
(in which I will be off-the-grid).
I look forward to returning to you next Wednesday to share
a collectibles walk through the Hell's Kitchen Flea.