Merchants at the “Off the Map” holiday market celebrated their neighborhoods with distinctively uptown products like limited edition “Inwood Hill Park” poster prints signed by the artist, original photography with Northern Manhattan as its subject and T-shirts with scribbled neighborhood slogans.
Will Alicea is a local T-shirt designer and entrepreneur whose designs show off neighborhood pride. Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
This first annual market on Saturday afternoon at Inwood’s Bread and Yoga studio, just steps from the 207th Street subway station, was the first time that small business owners and artists in Inwood and Washington Heights came together to showcase their talent.
A steady stream of neighbors stopped in to support 14 local artists and small business owners and to peruse tables of eclectic handmade goods, from all-natural, vanilla-scented Play-Doh to a holiday wreath made from the pages of a book.
Sasha Schwartz, founder of Scribble Art Workshop, sells homemade, all-natural play-do called "Scribbledo." Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
Inwood designer Pat Tillery sold this holiday wreath, made from pages of "a bad book." Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
The market was sponsored by the newly formed Inwood Merchant Association and organized by Leopold Vasquez, artist M. Tony Peralta and Bread and Yoga director Marcela Xavier. Vasquez, who founded The Sound of Art, said the idea behind the market and the Inwood Merchant Association, which he also helped start, is “getting small, local businesses together as a unit” to make a difference in Inwood and Washington Heights. “People have tried to start one before,” Vasquez said, but always without success. He attributes the Inwood Merchant Association’s success to the support of the Audubon Partnership.
These hats were designed for community pride by M. Tony Peralta. Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
Other projects aimed at supporting local businesses, like Small Business Saturday last month, have also fallen short in Inwood and Washington Heights. “The community is in dire need of this, so we just had to get it jumping off,” Vasquez said.
“It had a good community feel,” Jocelyn Gottschalk, who sold leather purses and bracelets, said of the market. “And it was also good for my business,” she said, noting that she sold far more than she usually does at farmers markets.
Jocelyn Gottschalk helps a customer choose a leather bracelet. Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
At events like the “Off the Map” market, Inwood feels more like a small town than a New York City neighborhood. And Inwood’s proud of it.
“It’s a hidden treasure,” said Amanda Hall-Smith, a dog trainer and walker. Referring to her fellow young entrepreneurs in Inwood, Hall-Smith said, “We’re all trying to help each other make it.”
Gottschalk greeted friends and neighbors at her table and said, “For me, it was nice to see people that I know.”
Sofia Ramirez handed out handmade confections from her home-based baking company, Batter sweet. Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
The market’s name is a reference to Inwood frequently being left off city tourist maps. “It’s called ‘Off the Map’ because we are not the Bronx,” Vasquez said. “We are not Harlem. And sometimes, we’re not even Manhattan!”
But while being “off the map” enhances Inwood’s small-town feel, it also means that some residents think they have to venture out of the neighborhood for their holiday shopping. Vasquez thanked visitors for instead “supporting your local business here” and for not showing up with shopping bags from downtown retailers.
Anina Young owns Brazen Lingerie at 253 Dyckman St., where she sells sassy loungewear, including thongs that read “Uptown’s finest.” She joked with market visitors that, “I don’t want Chelsea girls wearing that. Or Midtown” girls, either.
Young says people have pre-conceived notions about her shop “because it’s on Dyckman Street and it’s in Inwood.” When customers tell her that her store is not what they expected from a lingerie shop in Inwood, she replies, “You thought it was a hoochie-momma store, didn’t you?” Young says “the block has been changing and changing” with a burgeoning restaurant and retail scene.
In keeping with the neighborhood theme, artist Sasha Schwartz, who owns the Scribble Art Workshop, offered a canvas bag featuring Inwood staples like Inwood Hill Park and the Dyckman Street subway station. “There are so many artists in this neighborhood and it’s great to get them all together,” Schwartz said.
Sasha Schwartz sold canvas bags adorned with iconic Inwood locations. Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
Inwood resident Jessica Wells-Hasan left the market with armfuls of handmade goodies, including multicolored, striped Hula-Hoops, custom-made canvas totes and limited-edition prints. Wells-Hasan said, “It’s so much better knowing money is staying in the neighborhood and going to your friends and neighbors,” rather than big brand stores.
Ryan McPartland, 16, sells customized Hula-Hoops that he sells with his business, Inwood Hoops. Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan
The community support reached beyond the four walls of the Bread and Yoga studio to Inwood’s vibrant online community. Inwood resident Annie Szymanski posted on Twitter after the market that: “this neighborhood has truly made me understand how community makes a home.”
Since the market was hosted at a yoga studio, attendees were asked to peruse its offerings without shoes. Photo by Chiara Sottile/Northattan.
The Off the Map Market will return to Bread and Yoga next Saturday from 1:30 to 9 p.m. and again on Dec. 18 at the Audubon Partnership Headquarters from 3 to 9 p.m.
Story updated Dec. 8 to include more information about the Audubon Partnership.
