The Sun “discovers” that there are antique stores in Williamsburg: “Where there’s money, there’s a market for antiques”.

Huh?

Moon River Chattel (which the article cites) has been around since 1995. Portmanteau (also cited) is a newcomer, but all of the other stores at the west end of Grand Street have been around a while. That includes Cosmo Modern (close to ten years?), Two Jakes (OK, used office furniture is not antiques) and Carl Chaffee and Modest Designs (the shared modern spaces at the corner of South 1st and Wythe – maybe the Sun doesn’t consider mid-century modern to be antique, but the stuff sells for a lot more than most other “antiques”). Add to that Golden Calf (North 6th and Wythe), which started out at South 1st and Wythe close to 10 years ago.

I suppose the Sun is trying to draw a distinction between “the innumerable thrift, vintage, and secondhand stores” in the neighborhood and bona fide antique stores, but its a stupid distinction. There has been a market for higher-end vintage furniture for well over a decade now (M and White on White were here in the 1990s). That includes the mid-century modern pieces at Modest and the ancient Chinese pieces at Golden Calf. It sure doesn’t seem to me that we have suddenly crossed the line into curated “antiques”.