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Flea to pack bags: Locals push market out of Williamsburg park

A flea too many
Community Newspaper Group / Danielle Furfaro

Call it the Flea that flicked itself.

The popular hipster market Brooklyn Flea will not return to Williamsburg’s East River State Park next summer after organizers acquiesced to complaints from locals who said the market and its sister foodie fair Smorgasburg were monopolizing the public space on weekends, the New York State Parks Department announced on Monday at a community board meeting.

“No one could use the park the way people wanted,” said Jonathan Burkan, a Williamsburger who lives across from the park. “It was every weekend and the community got tired of it, and so politicians decided on a compromise.”

The move will free up Sundays, but Smorgasburg will continue operating on Saturdays as part of the deal. Burkan predicted peace at last, starting next spring. On Sundays, at least.

“I think everyone will enjoy a relaxing place,” Burkan said. “Not a place with thousands of people buying stuff.

The bazaar’s other locations will remain in operation, including the just-opened indoor winter market in a nearby N. Fifth Street warehouse.

Reach reporter Jaime Lutz at jlutz@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-8310. Follow her on Twitter @jaime_lutz.