» My Upper West Pick of the Month: 77th Street GreenFlea Market

My Upper West Pick of the Month: 77th Street GreenFlea Market

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

77th-green-flea-market-a 77th-green-flea-market-b Each month, My Upper West chooses an Upper West Side business as Pick of the Month. These businesses are part of what makes our neighborhood great, and we highly recommend checking them out if you haven’t yet had the chance. This month’s pick is actually a collection of independent retailers that make up a Sunday market, the 77th Street GreenFlea Market. Click through to read more about GreenFlea.

GreenFlea was started in 1985 as a market for small businesses on the Upper West Side. Money from the for-profit market, located on the PS 87 campus just west of Columbus between 76th and 77th, is used by the parents to provide needed enrichment opportunities for the children of PS 87, The Computer School, and MS 44. Since it started, GreenFlea has provided the schools with more than $4,000,000 in additional funds. Part of what makes the 77th Street market so great is this opportunity to give back and help fund some Upper West Side schools.

The shopping itself at GreenFlea is abundant. A huge variety of items are for sale, including furniture, clothing, jewelry, collectibles, food, books, gifts, art, and home decor. It’s always a nice afternoon to stop by GreenFlea with no goals in particular and peruse the unique and vintage items from cufflinks to furs. Amazing finds lie in the wide selection of items offered throughout dozens of booths both inside the cafeteria of the school and outside on the playground. Stop by Yona’s Gourmet Delights booth to get yourself a puff pastry or quiche, then shop on a full stomach at Olde Good Things, where you can get architectural salvaged items like tin ceilings to spruce up your apartment, or head to one of the many antique jewelry spots to find a one-of-a-kind bauble so you can avoid the H&M uniforms so prevalent in New York.

The market is open Sundays year-round from 10:00 am to about 5:30 pm, and being the tough New Yorkers the vendors are, the market is open even in bad weather (there have only been three canceled days in 25 years from blizzard conditions). Prices are generally very good, and bargaining is possible with many vendors. Check out GreenFlea’s website for more information about the market and individual vendors, head out next Sunday, and happy shopping!