EAST WILLIAMSBURG — A flea market planning to debut next month wants to be a creative hub that draws people normally too afraid to make the trek to Bushwick to visit the neighborhood.
Organizers Christopher and Jinyen Carew will be hosting the Shwick Market for 12 weekends starting October 11, in a space at 286 Meserole St. in East Williamsburg.
The market features Bushwick-based artisans and a graffiti-inspired logo, but is partly aimed at tourists and people who live outside the neighborhood, with the location intended to make the flea more accessible to Manhattan.
"I want people who have heard of Bushwick but haven’t been out to Bushwick to come and say, 'Wow, I went out to Bushwick,'" he said. "We should go out."
The event will feature a "market of makers," meaning anybody who makes a product will be considered a vendor — from artists and fashion designers to chefs and jewelry makers, according to Christopher Carew.
About 60 vendors have already signed up to sell at the market on Saturdays and Sundays, including Lezzetli Ice Cream and menswear line Rocket Sciences Creative Labs, he said.
The organizers hope about 100 will eventually join the project.
Shwick, which has been advertising itself for a couple months now, is a flea to "lighten the load" of crowds that travel to popular places like the Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg, Christopher Carew said.
The market will also feature music and art, including work from street artists and performances from musicians who typically play on subway stations, he added.
But the organizers still want to highlight local, Bushwick-based businesses in order to bring them more attention from outsiders.
"Bushwick is just full of creativity," Christopher Carew said. "It’s overflowing with creativity."
