A vendor at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn. Photo by Flickr user Lou Stejskal
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One of New York City’s most popular outdoor food destinations is making a major move uptown this spring — and Upper West Siders will have a front-row seat. Starting in mid-May, dozens of vendors will set up shop at one of the neighborhood’s busiest gateways, three days a week, through the warmer months.
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Smorgasburg, the sprawling open-air food market best known for its weekend crowds in Williamsburg and Prospect Park, announced this week that it is expanding to the Columbus Circle entrance of Central Park. The new uptown run kicks off on Thursday, May 14, with more than 25 vendors serving food and drinks every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. Admission is free.The Columbus Circle location puts Smorgasburg just steps from the southern edge of the Upper West Side, a short walk from the 59th Street–Columbus Circle subway station and a quick stroll from anywhere below 72nd Street. For UWS residents who have typically had to head to Brooklyn or the World Trade Center for a Smorgasburg fix, the new market closes a considerable distance.
The uptown expansion marks the 16th season for Smorgasburg, which according to 6sqft may be the company’s biggest year yet. The 2026 roster across all of its markets includes 52 returning favorites and 22 new vendors, per the same outlet, with many of the new concepts coming from brands founded by immigrants or built around multigenerational family recipes. New vendors this season include 82 Bowl, a Korean BBQ concept; Ambo, an Indian comfort food stall; and Chenzi, serving Fuzhounese street food — though the specific Columbus Circle lineup has not yet been released.
Smorgasburg’s other New York markets will continue on their usual schedules alongside the new one: the Williamsburg flagship at Marsha P. Johnson State Park on Saturdays, Prospect Park’s Breeze Hill on Sundays, and the World Trade Center on Thursdays and Fridays. The Central Park schedule overlaps with the WTC dates, giving Manhattan residents a choice of markets on Thursdays and Fridays.
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The Columbus Circle expansion also comes as Smorgasburg prepares to launch another major project: Six Coasts, a 32,000-square-foot Pan-American restaurant on Governors Island, is set to open later this spring.For Upper West Siders, the bottom line is this: starting May 14, one of New York’s most ambitious outdoor food destinations will be operating just at the tip of the neighborhood, three days a week, every week, deep into the fall.
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