The Micro-Economy of Union Square
New York Magazine
By Kevin Gray
...What's most unusual about the Union Square micro-economy is how much activity takes place within the park itself. This, of course, has much to do with the fact that Union Square actually is a square, and so has a higher proportion of public space than either Herald or Times Square. When the Greenmarket is open four days a week, it serves as another anchor tenant, occupying roughly a third of the park and paying the city $99,171 in annual usage fees. Farmers rent space for a daily fee of $76 per stall length. While the Greenmarket managers will not comment on farmer revenue, reporting suggests they clear $12 million annually. For a month starting after Thanksgiving, the Greenmarket is joined by the Holiday Market, which installs itself at the south end of the park and pays the city $934,637 for the privilege. It pulls in about $2.5 million for its 100 vendors...
...Over the years, the market helped create a secondary industry in upscale restaurants-beginning with Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe-which in turn drew more people to the square, especially in the evenings. Jenny Schuetz, a professor of real estate at USC who did her postdoctoral work at NYU, says the Greenmarket acts as a destination that attracts people who are likely to make a day of it, shopping for shoes or clothes, having coffee or lunch, maybe going to the movies beforehand. "Once you have the stalls set up for this type of open-air shopping," says Schuetz, "people are more likely to see the little businesses on the periphery as extensions of a larger market."...