Walking through Union Square’s bustling Greenmarket, I’m pleasantly surprised by a few different changes – walking here doesn’t really feel like walking through other parts of the city. Although people towards the middle of the walkways are walking at your usual New York speed, I found that the people walking right along the white tents were walking much slower, carefully looking over all the different things each tent had to offer and lingering by the ones that struck their interest most. Slowing down my own pace as I approach a few of these tents, I start to catch more bits of conversations than I’m used to, a low buzz of different voices all around me. Im hit with the smell of fresh baked goods and flowers (at times, more specifically lavender), reminding me of the farmers market I’d visit back home. I stop to quickly buy myself a pastry and eat it, smiling at the way the warm dough flakes in my mouth on this chilly January day. A small amount of warmth temporarily spreads across my body. Moving forward, I weave through the crowd, some areas being more dense then others (the areas near the subway entrances being especially busy) – I feel like I usually to some degree am conscious of where I’m walking and make sure not to bump into others when going up and down NY’s streets, but here I find myself being even more aware of it than usual. Looking around a few other tents for a bit longer, I then decide that I’m satisfied with my visit and begin heading towards 14th street, the two rows of identical white tents lined up on either side of me. The walkway was quite large compared to other market type things I’ve seen.
