The famed Chelsea Flea Market, which shuttered in December, will be resurrected this spring.
The team that runs the Brooklyn Flea and the Smorgasburg food markets has leased the parking lot space on West 25th street where the old market had been located.
Eric Demby, the Brooklyn Flea co-founder, said he was tracking down longtime dealers from 25th Street and the former Garage market, which was also on 25th Street and closed in 2014, to offer them space.
The markets had been run by the husband-and-wife team of Alan and Helene Boss, who some dealers called abusive and violent. The Chelsea market was the last of the bazaars that dotted the neighborhood and were frequented by celebrities like Andy Warhol.
Boss told The Post that parking lot operator Larry Lipman refused to renew his lease, saying “I was told in no uncertain terms we don’t want a flea market there.”
Lipman declined to comment on why he agreed to rent the space to the Brooklyn Flea operators, who said they signed a lease late last month. They will call the market Chelsea Flea.
The market will be open on weekends beginning April 4 and will include a few food vendors as well as those selling antiques and collectibles.
Larry Baumhor, a Philadelphia resident who sold vintage photographs at the Garage market, said dealers who had been scared of the Bosses were looking forward to the new operators.
“We’re just tickled pink that a person of integrity and honesty who is concerned about the dealers is going to take over and run this market,” he said.
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