In a corner of Canarsie, dubbed “Brooklyn’s Best Kept Secret,” it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – great news for borough residents looking to pick up a tree (fresh or artificial), a wreath, garlands, ornaments galore, or the food to put on the table for holiday open houses and festive dinners.
The Brooklyn Terminal Market, at Foster Avenue and East 87th Street, offers an amalgam of goodies – at Christmas, and all year round.
Originally a wholesale destination, retail consumers are also welcome at most of the 33-plus businesses within the 15½-acre market, and savvy shoppers have long known that the Terminal Market is THE place to go for freshness, quality and selection. Among the market’s specialties is seasonal merchandise, including Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and Halloween.
“We’re old-school, one of Brooklyn’s best kept secrets,” noted Charles Ciraolo, the president of Brooklyn Terminal Market Cooperative, Inc., pointing out the vast selection of goods available at businesses ranging from multigenerational enterprises to relatively recent entrepreneurs selling everything from bedding plants (in season) to fresh flowers to grocery items including spices from around the world and a broad selection of West Indian and Asian merchandise, plus beer, soda, dairy products, fresh produce, pickles and paper goods.
Founded in the 1942, the market (which is right next door to Canarsie Plaza, housing BJs) has been a cooperative since the businesses housed there purchased it from the city in 2010. It’s open from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, with special holiday hours (Thursday through Saturday, open till 8 p.m.). For directions, call 718-444-5700.
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