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The holiday shopping season has arrived at the 14th Street subway exit—and this year it comes with a drink.
The Union Square Holiday Market opens today, Thursday, November 12, with nearly 200 vendors in Union Square Park. The open-air market runs through Christmas Eve, giving you six weeks to find something for even your most difficult relative. (Plus, for the first time, you can buy wine and beer at the market, so the Thursday-night gift run can also serve as happy hour.)
On the gift front, former fashion editor Marybeth Schmitt brings vintage fashion to the market with The MB Edit, and there’s limited-edition NYC Parks merchandise. The new Made in NYC booth rotates through six local businesses over the season, so it’s worth another lap if you make multiple visits throughout the month.
Silly Sketched Pets will do live pet portraits and sell hand-drawn stationery and art through November 18. Then, Kettle & Kame Clay Studio takes over November 19–25 with handmade pottery and ceramic jewelry, followed by Rose’s Pineapple Shorts and its Taiwanese-American pineapple pastries from November 27 through December 3.
Union Square is the city’s oldest holiday market and in 2023 Yelp ranked it the best in the country, ahead of Chicago’s Christkindlmarket. If you’d prefer a little elbow room while you browse, try to visit on a weekday right at opening, but if you're hoping for the full lights-after-dark effect, you’ve got until 9 pm three nights a week.
Admission is free and the stalls are steps from the 14th Street–Union Square station. Regular hours are 11am to 8pm Sunday through Wednesday, 11am to 9pm Thursday and Friday and 10 am to 9 pm Saturday. The market is closed on Thanksgiving, so anyone hoping to sneak in a little shopping before dinner will have to make that a Friday errand.