3 unusual places to go shopping in Brooklyn, NYC
There are plenty of shops in Brooklyn, New York City. But Beacon’s Closet, Brooklyn Flea and Brooklyn Superhero Supply offer something very different indeed.
This guide to unusual shopping in Brooklyn is part of a special New York City collection created to celebrate the new direct flights from Sydney to New York. To find many more great things to do in New York City, head this way.
Brooklyn shops: Beacon’s Closet
There are second hand stores, and there are second hand stores. Beacon’s Closet is the Colosseum of clothing exchange, with rows of specialist buyers casting their eye over the items brought in, then putting a value on them.
Sellers get 30% of that value in cash or a 50% store credit. And in that store, amongst some fairly generic chain store garments, are some world class vintage finds and outfits that push ‘individual’ to its outer limits. Beacon’s Closet has spread over several locations, but the biggest is in Williamsburg.
Which New York City experiences to book
There are hundreds of great experiences in New York City. But we’d strongly advise against bus tours (unless you like sitting in traffic for hours). Try these instead.
- Boat tours: Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island | Sunset and city lights cruise | Complete round-Manhattan island cruise.
- Get up high: Top of the Rock | Edge Observation Deck | Summit One Vanderbilt | Manhattan helicopter tour | One World Observatory | Empire State Building.
- Museum entry tickets: 9/11 Memorial Museum | The Guggenheim | Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum | American Museum of Natural History.
- Food tours: Chelsea Market and High Line | Lower East Side | Chinatown and Little Italy.
- Central Park: Central Park carriage ride | Pedicab tour | Central Park Zoo.
- Multiple attraction savings: New York CityPass.
Shopping in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Flea
Fans of such delving for jewels can extend beyond clothing into antiques, furniture and, well, just about anything at one of the world’s great flea markets.
Taking place at the DUMBO archway on Saturdays and Sundays, the Brooklyn Flea blurs the traditional tat-flogging boundaries by throwing craftspeople, jewellers and locally-made fresh food into a highly pleasurable mix.
Unusual Brooklyn shops: Brooklyn Superhero Supply
Need to buy omnipotence or telekinesis? Want some cybernetic henchfish for your lair? Or simply want to test the cape of your outfit? Well, this utterly heartwarming shop is the place to do it. It’s actually the front for a kids’ after-school tuition programme and most of the superpowers on sale are actually jars of sand… Or are they?
Either way – the Brooklyn Superhero Supply store is brimming with such creativity that you could happily spend a day looking at the carefully crafted details. The idea may be confusing, but have faith, it’s one of the loveliest things you’ll ever see.
More New York travel
Catacombs tour | Central Park scavenger hunt | Ellis Island hard hat tour | Lower Manhattan museums | NYC slavery tours | Underrated NYC museums