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Your next Union Square lunch break just got a whole lot more colorful.
Towering over the terrace at Time Out Market Union Square is a brand-new hand-painted mural by Brooklyn artist Bianca Romero, turning the outdoor space into a kaleidoscopic celebration of New York at its busiest, brightest and most wonderfully chaotic. The large-scale work, called It Starts Outside / City in Bloom, was created in partnership with Merrell and draws directly from the neighborhood that shaped the artist.
Romero grew up just a block from Union Square Park, and she says the neighborhood has long been where she goes to clear her head, find inspiration and let new ideas take shape. That experience became the foundation for the mural. But rather than depicting a single city scene, she imagined inspiration itself blooming during a walk through Union Square—a figure crossing the street with flowers in hand as ideas, plants and fragments of the city explode into life behind them.
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If you take a closer look, you'll spot plenty of local references tucked into the layered composition: the park's circular steps, subway entrances, chessboards and players, street musicians, crosswalk stripes, fire escapes, Art Deco building details and the familiar façade of One Union Square West. Together they create a visual collage that mirrors the sensory overload of stepping outside in Manhattan, where typography, architecture, people and nature all compete for your attention.
The installation is also a fitting addition to Romero's growing portfolio of New York public art. The mixed-media muralist, who's now based in Brooklyn, is known for combining hand-cut collage, acrylic paint and spray paint into vibrant works exploring identity, community and urban life. Her projects have included murals for Mount Sinai Hospital, Atlantic Terminal and PS 304 in Brooklyn, and she's worked on brand collaborations with Maker's Mark and Coach.
So, the next time you're grabbing dumplings, tacos or a drink at Time Out Market Union Square, don't rush upstairs just for the food. Step onto the terrace, linger for a minute and let the mural do what Romero hopes the city itself does best: remind you that sometimes the best ideas begin the moment you walk outside.