Daily Archives: March 16, 2018

Stuy Town flea market will return with designated space for artists on April 21

At this year’s flea market, sellers will only be located inside playgrounds. (Pictured) Vendors at Stuy Town’s Playground 11 at the 2017 event

By Sabina Mollot

On Friday, Stuyvesant Town management announced that the flea market, which returned last year after a hiatus of over a decade, will take place this year on Saturday, April 21.

In an email to residents, a few changes to the way the market is set up were mentioned. For one thing, instead of circling the Oval and sprawling out into the loop roads, with playgrounds included, this year, the market will only take place inside three playgrounds.

Asked about this, General Manager Rick Hayduk said this isn’t to limit the number of participants. (Last year, there were over 500.) Rather, management is confident the same if not more vendors will be able to fit this way.

The new layout may also improve visibility for vendors who may have otherwise been stationed on the outskirts of the event. (A few vendors in the playgrounds and on the loops furthest from the Oval told Town & Village last year they suspected they were getting less foot traffic.)

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Man charged with stealing thousands of dollars worth of bags from Flatiron stores

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Police arrested a man believed to be responsible for a number of thefts from high-end designer stores in the Flatiron area since January. Kevin Gonzalez, 36, has been charged with grand larceny and petit larceny in connection with four thefts from the Coach store at 79 Fifth Avenue and the Michael Kors store at 133 Fifth Avenue.

According to the district attorney’s office, Gonzalez entered the Coach store on January 22 around 1:35 p.m. and stole several items from the store, including three purses. Representatives for the store told the DA’s office that the merchandise was valued at $1,080.

The next day, Gonzalez allegedly returned to the store and swiped three purses, in addition to other items, which were valued at a total of $2,315.

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Office cleaner charged with burglarizing client’s office

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

A cleaning company employee has been arrested for allegedly burglarizing an office he had access to through his job, police said. Christian Holmes, 25, was arrested on Tuesday, February 27 for reportedly stealing laptops from an office at 122 West 26th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues last December.

Police said that video surveillance showed two individuals wearing hoods, masks and gloves entering the lobby of the building at 3 a.m. on December 12, 2017 using an access key card and allegedly entered the offices of Skipper, a company on the 11th floor of the building, using an office key. When the two individuals got back on the elevator on the 11th floor at 4:13 a.m., they were allegedly carrying full bags that were previously empty.

The DA’s office said that the face of the individual who used the elevator access card and key was partially visible on the surveillance video when the two were getting into the elevator and another employee for the cleaning company identified the person as Holmes.

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