Cider Village held at Union Square Greenmarket in NYC

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — The sights and sounds of fall were on full display Friday at the Cider Village at the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan.

It’s all a part of New York Cider Week. It’s hosted by GrowNYC , an environmental nonprofit that runs many of the city’s greenmarkets.

“Last year there was a late frost, so a lot of the apples didn’t make it, but this year there’s an abundance of apples and stone fruit in general. So all these folks are growing the apples themselves or supporting our local farmers,” said Amelia Tarpey with GrowNYC.

According to the New York Apple Association , New York is the second-largest apple-producing state in the United States. There are more than 11 million apple trees in New York.

This year, six cideries from across New York took part in the village. Rockland Cider Works was one of them.

“It really is the original American beverage before beer was popular,” said Rockland Cider Works owner Darin Van Houten.

Matt Richards was also one of the people there. He showed off the process of making cider, something he does at his home in Bedford-Stuyvesant for friends and family.

“I was upstate during the pandemic and realized there were all these apples that were going abandoned and not being used, so I thought I would make something useful,” Richards said.

Many people who showed up to the village said they wanted to support local farmers and the state’s apple industry.

“Beautiful fall, apple cider, what could be better?” said Brooklyn resident Michael Landsman.

If you’d like to support local producers, don’t worry. While the village is a one-day event, the Union Square Greenmarket is year-round, and some of the vendors take part in it throughout the year.

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