Ripe & Ready: Come Pick From Eight Downtown Farmers Markets

07/14/2010
Shoppers enjoy the Fulton Stall Market at South Street Seaport.
Shoppers enjoy the Fulton Stall Market at South Street Seaport.

Growing up in an Italian family that planted its own vegetable garden, there’s a certain freshness and tastiness I got to experience from just-picked tomatoes or zucchini straight off the vine that you can’t find anywhere else. Or so I thought.

Thanks to the abundance of farmers markets that have sprung up all over Lower Manhattan, I can now pick from among many other families who grow their own—but on a much larger scale than a backyard in Brooklyn.

I can now take a lunchtime stroll to an outdoor “flea market of fruits and veggies” and choose from among the best selection there is without getting dirt under my fingernails. And not only am I getting top-quality, healthy produce—it’s also saving me a weekend trip to the supermarket.

Battery Park City will finally get its own farmers market on July 15 with the opening of the World Financial Center Greenmarket located on the corner of South End Avenue and Liberty Street.

And on Saturday, July 10, Downtown became home to the first and only farmers market created by a hotel in NYC. The Andaz Wall Street Farmers Market’s participating Hudson Valley sellers supply the hotel’s restaurant, Wall & Water, with their seasonal menu ingredients.  I got to experience this firsthand when I dined at Wall & Water for this summer’s NYC Restaurant Week.  I ate every morsel of my delicious three-course meal prepared by Chef Maximo Lopez May and his staff.

Later this month, the New Amsterdam Market will open just north of the South Street Seaport, offering yet another choice for weekend food shopping in Lower Manhattan.

It seems that wherever you turn in Lower Manhattan, you’re just steps away from good, healthy eating. So don’t let summer go by without checking out at least one of these wonderful markets:

Bowling Green Greenmarket
Open Tuesdays & Thursdays from 8 AM-5 PM year round

Staten Island Ferry Terminal Greenmarket
Open Tuesdays & Fridays from 8 AM-7 PM year round

City Hall Greenmarket
Open Tuesdays & Fridays 8 AM-5 PM, from June through November

Zuccotti Park Greenmarket
Open Tuesdays & Thursdays from 8 AM-6 PM, from April through December

Fulton Stall Market at South Street Seaport
Open Sundays from 11 AM-6 PM through October; reopens in the spring

• World Financial Center Greenmarket
Thursdays from 8 AM-6 PM, from July 1 – December 31

• Andaz Wall Street Hotel
Saturdays from 8 AM-3 PM starting July 10 through Thanksgiving

New Amsterdam Market
Saturday, July 24, 11 AM-4 PM; Sunday, August 22, 11 AM-4 PM; Sundays from September 12 to December 19

Related articles

Where to View the 2024 Solar Eclipse in Lower Manhattan
Where to View the 2024 Solar Eclipse in Lower Manhattan

On April 8, Lower Manhattanites will be able to view a partial eclipse covering 90 percent of the sun.

CUTE ALERT: It’s Baby Falcon Season at 55 Water St.
CUTE ALERT: It’s Baby Falcon Season at 55 Water St.

It’s birdy time!

The Mysterious, Contested Etymology of the Word “Downtown”
The Mysterious, Contested Etymology of the Word “Downtown”

For something so ubiquitous, the origins of the word “downtown” are hazier than you might expect.