In this case, its not at Alice’s Restaurant as Woody Gutherie promised. In New York, they close down the streets – main streets – on weekends and hold a street market. This morning, we rounded the corner onto 6th Avenue and a street market had broken out. Interestingly this one was sponsored by the Manhattan Republican Club. 6th Avenue from 23rd Street down to 14th was closed to traffic and the street was lined with merchants selling just about anything you could imagine. We have experienced this before but it never ceases to amaze that 8 or 10 blocks of a major commercial thoroughfare would be closed and no one blinks.

There is an endless list of items to buy, everyone at “incredibly low prices”. Set up at tables and under tents along both curbs were vendors of every description. They set up before 8am and are open until 6. By 7 you would never even know it happened. Like a “pop-up”.

You can buy typical New York souvenirs – tee shiirts with “I Love New York” and every other saying you can imagine but that is just the beginning. There are booths selling: “designer” samples of women’s coats; scarves and hats (five bucks for a pure Cashmere scarf or 5 for $20); silver and other jewelry, pendants and beads; CDs with every kind of music, mostly by people you never heard of; purses and bags; gifts for golfers; posters and pictures -We bought three framed and one unframed prints for $25; and of course there are thousands of pairs of sunglasses.

And then there are food vendors selling smoothies, every ethnic food imaginable as well as good American burgers. You can get corn on a stick; a corn sandwich with mozzarella cheese; empanadas and churos; chicken/beef or lamb on a pita and of course souvlaki.

All of this happens to an ever changing symphony of music, the hawking of the vendors and the periodic rumbling of the B, D, F and M subways that run below the street. In the meantime, its business as usual at the local stores and the restaurants are busy serving brunch (until 4pm).

Its like being at the PNE and New Yorkers and tourists alike come more for the experience than to buy. And how can you beat mixing with these very diverse people on a bright, sunny and warm (low 20s) day in New York. We came upon a group of african american women of ample size, each wearing a black tee shirt with flourescent pink lettering. On the back they said “Team Garcia” and on the front each was festooned with the appropriate descriptor: Bride, Matron of Honor – excuse my US spelling – Maid of Honor, Bridesmade, Mother of the Bride and, my favourite, Sister and Nephew over a beautifully pregnant belly.

We did buy a few things: a cashmere scarf for me and five others (yes for $20) and Penny got some jewelry. For lunch, chicken on a pita and a diet coke on the curb. Too bad Vancouver doesn’t have the critical mass for this type of event. They help make this City great!