Looking for the best flea market? New York has always been a city dedicated to commerce so it’s no surprise that the markets in New York City are some of the best in the United states. For most visitors, the plethora of street food that most markets in NYC offer is the main reason to seek out these meccas of culture and cuisine, but don’t forget that there’s much more than just food on offer. Can’t get enough of all these outdoor shopping opportunities? Check out our awesome list of Top 5 Markets in New York City.
1. Smorgasburg
Smorgasburg is the largest weekly open-air food market in America, attracting 20,000-30,000 people to Brooklyn each weekend to eat from 100 local vendors—Saturdays on the Williamsburg waterfront and Sundays in beautiful Prospect Park. It launched May 21, 2011, as a spinoff of Brooklyn Flea (founded in 2008), and has since launched dozens of small businesses and attracted millions of visitors. The New York Times dubbed Smorgasburg “The Woodstock of Eating.”
2. Brooklyn Flea
Founded in April 2008 by Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby, Brooklyn Flea has grown into one of New York City’s top attractions, operating flea markets every weekend of the year that feature hundreds of top vendors of furniture, vintage clothing, collectibles and antiques, as well as a tightly curated selection of jewelry, art, and crafts by local artisans and designers, plus delicious fresh food. Starting the first weekend in April through October, the markets take place outdoors Sundays in DUMBO.  Travel + Leisure, Country Living, Budget Travel, and Fodor’s have ranked the Flea one of the best markets in the U.S. and the world; and Time Out NY named the Flea one of New York’s Essential Pick-Up Spots.
3. LIC Flea
LIC Flea & Food is the premier weekend destination in Queens with the best selection of curated vintage, handmade designs and artisan food vendors, plus the All-Queens Beer Garden serving up local craft beer.
LIC Flea & Food operates outdoors rain or shine every Saturday & Sunday from 11am-6pm. The market has over 80 carefully curated vendors that sell items such as internationally inspired food & drink, antiques, art, furniture, fashion, jewelry, arts & crafts and much more.
4. Chelsea Market
A block long and a block wide and just a short walk from the Hudson River in the area of Manhattan known as the Meatpacking District, Chelsea Market has become in just fifteen years one of the greatest indoor food halls of the world, with more than thirty-five vendors purveying everything from soup to nuts, wine to coffee, cheese to cheesecake. Attracting 6 million national and international visitors annually, it is one of the most trafficked, and written-about, destinations of any kind in New York City. Chelsea Market is a neighborhood market with a global perspective.
The area has always been the locus of food in the city, beginning with the Algonquin Indians, who traded their game and crops on the banks of the Hudson River at this same spot. The trains of the High Line once served the wholesale butchers who lined the streets beneath the tracks and cooled their provisions with blocks of Hudson River ice, and the National Biscuit Company established its factory—now reclaimed as the Chelsea Market—here to take advantage of the butchers’ lard in the nineteenth century. This long history—and the stripped-down brick architecture of the building—gives the Market a unique character. For foodies and even casual tourists, it is possible to enter the Market at one end in the morning and not exit the other until lunchtime, without ever growing bored—and certainly without ever going hungry.
5. Union Square Greenmarket
The world-famous Union Square Greenmarket began with just a few farmers in 1976, has grown exponentially; in peak season 140 regional farmers, fishers, and bakers sell their products to a dedicated legion of city dwellers. As Greenmarket’s flagship market, the seasonal bounty is unparalleled, with hundreds of varieties to choose from during any given season. From just-picked fresh fruits and vegetables, to heritage meats and award-winning farmstead cheeses, artisan breads, jams, pickles, a profusion of cut flowers and plants, wine, ciders, maple syrup and much more. Located in one of New York City’s great public spaces, the atmosphere at Union Square on a market day is electric: 60,000 market shoppers shop and chat with farmers; students of all ages tour the market and learn about seasonality; visitors watch and taste cooking demonstrations by some of New York’s hottest local chefs.
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