There goes the neighborhood and the traffic will be even more of a nightmare than it is currently!!!!!!

hopefully it will be better than the one in Old Bridge

It made me a little sad to see the old Flea Market torn down. When it opened in the late 70s it had about 600 vendors, and it was a huge deal advertised heavily even in NYC. There was a big separate stage/auditorium where a lot of noteable acts actually played, including old legends such as Bo Diddley but also up and coming acts that went on to fame in heavy metal and country/western genres. I worked there throughout jr high and highschool. It was a real subculture, working in that places, a kooky and strange little world.

I worked in the old Odd Lot--the largest vendor in the fleamarket--it sold only 'seconds' and was in some ways a little like Walmart though without the smarmy business practices. Everything was sold in palates or out of boxes. Many weekend nights I would close the booth and take the til home with me in a brown paper bag--as much as a thousand dollars--we had no bank deposit back then. The building had a REALLY strong smell, not unlike the one that permeated the old Two Guys from Harrison store that used to be across the highway, on the other side of Tices from the drive-in, by the old Meat Market and burger place whose name I forget, maybe Patsy's?--(that became A&S pizza) that was probably the first fast food place in EB and pre-dated even the original drive-thru-only McDonalds.

Before the flea market opened there was an old Modell's in the back of the building, and I think the entire place was another oldschool department store before that (this was of course when there was still a Woolworths and a JJ Newberry's (real old school five and dimes) across Tices Lane where Millers on the Mall was. I think CH Martin here in Jersey City is one of the last old five and dimes left.

Businesses that cater to people with lower incomes have always been around, and have their place. I'm not a fan of Walmart, but in the end they really are no different than Whole Foods (where many Walmart critics like to shop!), which moves in to towns that already support co-ops and indepdendent natural food stores, underprices them, closes them down, and then raises prices.

I will actually miss the old Flea Market (or rather my spent youth with which I associate it!), which when it opened heralded the end of an era for the Rt 1 Market which closed not long after, and probably sucked the last good booths away from the old Englishtown Market, which was actually still kind of cool back then.

Back in the early 80s we were more concerned with the environmental impact of Edgeboro Landfill which could be seen from the loading dock of the flea market building out over the old flats across Old Bridge Turnpike, which was court-ordered to close 30 YEARS AGO because it FAR exceeded capacity. It was front page news all the time and we used to actually protest by driving cars up and down Edgeboro Road on weekends to disrupt truck traffic. Today armchair critics are content to merely yammer on Facebook. I'm not saying the concerns aren't valid or that I disagree with them., just wanted to offer some perspective.