Port Authority Bus Terminal Gets A Farmers’ Market

A new farmers' market at Port Authority Bus Terminal gives hundreds of thousands of commuters access to fresh produce every Thursday.


Photo by wallyg on Flickr Creative Commons

When I’m traveling somewhere by bus, train, plane, whatever, I try to bring food with me. The options at the terminal waiting areas, while seemingly endless, rarely offer fresh anything, let alone fresh produce.

Turns out, people going through the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City will no longer have to bring their own greens. Starting today, every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Main Concourse of the terminal’s North Wing will house a greenmarket featuring produce from two New York farms: Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook and Prospect Hill Orchards in Milton.

Katchkie Farm—by the way, I’ve eaten this food at Mae Mae Café in Soho and it’s delish—plans to offer organic fresh produce and eggs, flowers, and prepared sandwiches and soup, plus Katchkie Ketchup, Thunder Pickles, Pesto sauce, and a bunch of other “artisanal products.” I imagine Prospect Hill Orchard will provide some combo of the cherries, peaches, nectarines, apples, and pears it grows (though no one picked up when I called).

Putting a green market in the space makes complete sense: 210,000 people make their way through it daily and the closest year-round farmers’ market is 25 blocks away, according to Port Authority spokesperson Jennifer Friedberg. (Technically, it's Dag Hammarskjold Plaza nine avenues, five blocks and a good 25-minute walk away.)

It made sense to the Council on the Environment of NYC (CENYC), which runs 49 of these markets around the city. “Our mission is to increase green access,” says Amanda Gentile, CENYC’s development and communications specialist. “A transportation hub that sees more than 200,000 people a day is a great way to make it easy for them to pick up food they might not have access to.”

I agree. Plus, now I won’t have to feel sick from the sandwich I inevitably end up eating in one of those terminal waiting rooms.