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Vehicles drive past Deutsche Bank's carbon counting sign in Manhattan - Source: Reuters -
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Beneath all the skyscrapers it appears.
At first, you think it's just another of New York city's many delightful parks - siblings and surrogates of that most famous of all green spaces, Central Park.
But this one is different. Yes, the trees are gorgeous. Yes, it's full of people. But there must be something apart from the chance to enjoy some winter sunshine that has drawn so many to Union Square Park this bright Saturday morning.
The reason, it soon becomes clear, is the market. Fresh fruit and vegetables, cakes, breads, meat, seafood, maple syrup and more are all on offer as growers and farmers from around New York State, as well as nearby states Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, hawk their wares.
It's all a very pleasant surprise and the ideal lunch stop as part of my journey from the financial district, located at the bottom of Manhattan, to the Metropolitan Museum in Central Park on the Upper East Side.
Instead of catching the subway the nine kilometres or so, I had decided earlier this morning to discover Manhattan by foot.
It was a quiet start, with security guards almost outnumbering the tourists taking photos outside the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
But the crowds started to build around the factory outlets that line Broadway filled with jeans, t-shirts and shoes. I negotiate my way through the throng and head to the Lower East Side to visit the Tenement Museum on Orchard Street.
The museum provides a glimpse into the lives of immigrants who flooded into the United States from the mid-1800s.
These mainly poor new arrivals often made tenement housing blocks on the Lower East Side their first home, with sometimes eight or more people living in tiny apartments in these five-storey buildings.
After the hour-long tour, and a quick happy snap of the famous Katz Deli around the corner from the museum, (remember the "I'll have what she's having" line in When Harry Met Sally? That was in here.) I'm famished and so the market comes at the perfect time.
I choose an Italian cheese stick, which has just a hint of paprika, two red Fuji apples and a tub of yoghurt. All washed down with a glass of warm apple cider while milling with New Yorkers as they go about their weekly shopping.
Quite apart from the food, I also see artists hawking their wares, offering paintings, photographs, jewellery and clothes.
But my personal favourite is Mighty Mutts, which has two dogs on hand to tempt people to become pet owners and give the dogs and cats it rescues off the streets a new home.
As the stereotypical Manhattan apartment is small, often without a balcony and would appear totally unsuitable for dogs, the level of interest is surprisingly high, as are the number of pet owners seen walking their dogs through the streets of New York and in Central Park.
As much as I would love to hang around, people watch and perhaps even do a weekly shop, I have to move on and continue my walk to the Museum.
But before I do, I grab a bottle of maple syrup from the north-east US state of Vermont, hoping that I have guessed correctly and there will be no quarantine issues upon my return to Australia.
After Union Square Park, it's on to Madison Square Garden, home of the city's professional basketball and ice hockey teams the Knicks and Islanders, respectively.
Games are scheduled throughout the week, mostly at nights but also on Sunday afternoons.
Around the corner is the Empire State Building, which is perhaps the most recognised landmark in a city filled with world-famous attractions. Open until 2am every day, the views from the 86th floor are definitely worth the security screening, ticket price (about $US20) and queues.
Heading further north towards Midtown, I pass Times Square with its big TV screens and reach Rockefeller Plaza, home of US television network NBC.
Keen to see the set of Saturday Night Live I join the studio tour, which goes for about an hour and ends at the gift shop. I do not escape unscathed, unable to resist a Friends coffee mug even though the show ended years ago.
The credit card gets a further workout at the various boutiques along Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue between 50th and 60th streets. But instead of Prada, Versace or Cartier, I keep within my budget and instead go mad at the NBA Store and Banana Republic.
As I pass the Plaza Hotel and enter the Upper East Side - home of the rich and richer - I tug self-consciously at my dress-for-comfort-not-style-even-though-I-am-in-New-York travel clothes as men flashing their Rolex watches and women in Burberry coats swish past.
Thankfully the Plaza Hotel also coincides with the start of Central Park, allowing me to head off Fifth Avenue and walk among the trees up to the Metropolitan Museum, which locals refer to as The Met and is one of the world's largest art galleries.
I pay my fee and get a cute little red button that serves as my entry ticket. A helpful guide, Amy, tells me the buttons come in 23 different colours and change every day.
I ask for advice on where to start, and she advises me to go to the period rooms, which recreate different periods in history. Her advice proves spot on as I make my way through the fascinating 20-odd rooms that take me back to the period between the 1600s and early 1900s.
While it would have been easy to take the 20-minute subway ride rather than walk to the Museum, making the journey on foot has allowed me to see so much more of a city that, like The Met, needs much more than a day to fully experience.
Maybe tomorrow I will walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and watch the sun set. Or take a stroll through Chinatown. Or try to catch a glimpse of some famous movie star having lunch as I wander through Greenwich Village.
There are endless possibilities on Manhattan, an island just 22 kilometres long and five kilometres wide, but like nowhere else on Earth.
If you go:
Union Square Greenmarket is near the corner of 15th Street and Broadway. It is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 8am and 6pm all year round.
Visit: www.cenyc.org/unionsquaregreenmarket
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is at 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street. It is open every day from 9.30am except Monday, when it is closed. Entry is by donation, with $US20 for adults the recommended amount.
Visit: www.metmuseum.org
The Tenement Museum is at 108 Orchard Street, near the corner of Delancey Street. It is open every day, with tours starting at 10.30am. Tickets cost $US20 for adults.
Visit: www.tenement.org/
The Empire State Building is at 350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets. It is open every day between 8am and 2am. The last elevator to the observation deck goes up at 1.15am. Tickets cost about $US20 for adults.
Visit:www.esbnyc.com
The NBC Studio Tour is located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza on 49th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. Tours runs daily, starting from 8.30am. Tickets cost $US19.25 for adults.
Visit: www.nbcuniversalstore.com
