Accompanied by Lance Armstrong and sporting a green tie, Mayor Michael Bloomberg made an impromptu visit to the city’s largest Greenmarket at Union Square mid-afternoon, followed by a clutch of TV cameramen, aides, NYPD plainclothes cops, and curious shoppers, one of whom inquired loudly, “What he doing? Buying the place?” In fact, Bloomberg was just courting votes on the last weekend before the November 3 election.
He snacked on green snap peas at Norwich Meadows Farm’s stand, and bought a $5 pumpkin from Marco Huijen at another stall. Asked if he liked organic foods, Iron Mike replied, “I like everything put in front of me, especially organic.” He claimed his favorite veggie was iceberg lettuce(!). As he stood before microphones and plugged the city’s Greenmarkets, things got testy when a small band of shouting anti-Bloomberg demonstrators showed up with signs bearing such slogans as “No Third Term for Bloomberg and his pal Giuliani.” Security, who dwarfed the diminutive mayor, hustled the protesters away. Armstrong told Grub Street that he and Bloomberg “have been friends for years. He supports our foundation. I love Near York, but I’m going home to Texas to trick-and-treat.”
