(Courtesy Hester Street Fair)
While Brooklyn Flea’s Smorgasburg expands to Jones Beach, its Lower East Side counterpart, Hester Street Fair, is growing as well. This weekend, about 20 to 30 vendors — including some newbies — will spread out into a promenade in adjacent Seward Park that runs from the fair’s current perch at Hester Street all the way down to Canal Street.
“It’s a test run we’re really excited about that we think will add a fun, relaxing element to the park and the Fair,” says Hester’s Erik Zimmerman, who told us the Parks Department is letting him and his partners use the leafy, bench-lined walkway Saturdays and Sundays through September 6.
The promenade’s vendors will include Dana’s Bakery (macarons from a photo editor turned pastry entrepreneur), NY Chup (made-to-order fries with “small-batch” ketchup), City of Daughters (cocktail goods from the folks behind Elsa), YakBlak Sunnies & Specs (restored vintage eyewear), and Rachel Mae’s Farmstand (out of the North Fork of LI). A frozen banana vendor, The Frosted Banana, will fill the void that Motorboat and the Big Banana left when it departed Rockaway Beach.
Plus, Yoga High will offer free quickie classes as well as discount passes to their full sessions. And down the road, there’ll be live music (think local jazz musicians and the like).