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It's the height of summer which can only mean one thing: New Yorkers are heading in droves to the city’s best parks. Whether you’re passing through Washington Square Park or making a day of it in McCarren, here are the types of New Yorkers that you’re bound to see frolicking in the city’s green spaces over the next few months.
RECOMMENDED: Full guide to NYC parks
Lunching office workers
Often seen sitting on benches in Midtown, they look both super professional, because of their clothes, and like a kid at recess because of the bagged lunch.
The-park-is-my-office workers
Balancing on a flimsy metal chair with a laptop on lap, a phone cradled between ear and shoulder and another cell ringing in their computer case, they took their company’s “work anywhere” policy to the max.
PDA couple
We get that Central Park is romantic and all, but must you squeeze each others asses so vigorously while kissing?
Children
From toddlers practicing walking to kids on a field trip to middle schoolers playing hooky, young humans are everywhere, speaking at a volume that makes them impossible to miss.
Celebrity children
Whether they’re the star of a Broadway musical or the child of a super star, they're better dressed and cooler than you.
Urban scavengers
They’re so into locally sourced food that they’ve taken to finding edible roots and leaves around Prospect Park to spice up their dinner.
Pigeon feeders
While most of us agree that pigeons are gross and not to be trusted, it is pretty fascinating to see a person serving as a perch for their feathered friends.
Hot Dog Vendors
Yeah, they have to be there, because it’s their job and all, but you can’t deny you’ll see them.
Marathon runners
They can’t stop, won’t stop, and if you stick around long enough you’ll see them go past you four times on their loop.
Millennial flower children
Seen wearing loose clothing, these folks can be found in the middle of a week day (No, they don’t have “conventional jobs”) weaving grass and buttercups together to make flower crowns.
Serious cyclists
They got all the gear–the sunglasses, sleek bright athletic shirt, aerodynamic helmet–and they’re going fast.
Adult cyclists who, despite the old adage, have somehow forgotten how to ride a bike
They decided today was the day they were going to take up a new exercise regime, but obeying common biking courtesies (signaling, stopping for pedestrians, following traffic patterns) is harder than they remember.
Buskers
Whether they’re musical geniuses just trying to make a few extra dollars between professional gigs or a weirdo who just can’t stop the song inside their head from coming out, you’re in for a listening experience.
Photographers
Fashion shoots! Headshots! Bloggers! Humans of New York! Humans of New York Wannabes!
Artists
Caricature artists, landscape painters, sand mandala artists and local folks selling their wares can be seen year round. But they come out in droves with the nice weather.
Somebody you know
For a city with over 8 million people, it’s pretty amazing who you’ll run into waiting for ice cream in Bryant Park.
Somebody you think you know
“Hey! Didn’t we used to take Spanish together? No, wait, you play a recurring character on some show I watch. Oh, actually, you’re just an attractive person with a friendly face. Nice to meet you.”
Squirrels
You don’t think squirrel count? They’re tenacious, innovative, take whatever they want and have lived in the city their whole lives. They’re probably more of a true New Yorker than any of us.