HELL’S KITCHEN — The Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market has gotten a preliminary stamp of approval from a Community Board 4 committee — nearly a year after a number of vendors claimed the market was being mismanaged.
Last December, CB4’s Arts, Culture, Education and Street Life (ACES) Committee — then the Quality of Life Committee — asked the city's Street Activity Permit Office to deny the market a street activity permit unless its operators addressed the board’s concerns about vendor discontent and the market’s nonprofit status.
The committee on Monday voted to support the market’s application — with some stipulations — for next year after hearing from a consultant who maintained its operators had worked hard to “revitalize” it over the past year.
“There’s no more hearsay, there’s no more off-the-fly policies,” consultant Karen Seiger told committee members, addressing some vendors’ claims that operators of the market, at West 39th Street and Ninth Avenue, had been increasing their rents arbitrarily.
Since last year — when operator Alan Boss admitted that the nonprofit affiliated with the flea market hadn’t yet sponsored any local artists, as it promised to do in its mission statement — the market has given grants to three, Seiger said.
“We are committed to engaging and contributing to the vitality of this neighborhood,” she said.
The flea market has been working with a creative agency on promotional efforts and hasn't received any complaints from its vendors, she maintained.
“Clearly we’ve come a long way since that very, very long night… at the CB4 offices [last year],” committee co-chair Austin Ochoa said.
The board has met with the market’s operators several times over the past year to make sure its stipulations were being met, CB4 district manager Jesse Bodine noted.
The official vote will take place at CB4’s full board meeting on Dec. 7, as there weren’t enough committee members present Monday evening to constitute a quorum.
A few current vendors spoke out in support of the flea market at the meeting.
“We look forward to keep seeing you guys striving and being successful,” Ochoa said.
