The Social Anthropology of Union Square Park

This particular post is dedicated to my awkward friend, Miss Nancy Zhou.  I’m sure that, in the summer, when temperature and humidity are unbearably high, you wear a baggy dress (in your inimitable style) and head down to Union Square Park (because Washington Square Park is too much fun for Fancy Nancy) to eat some Whole Foods lunch out in the sun.

Enter Normal Bob Smith, anthropologist of Union Square Park.  Mssr. Smith takes meticulous video recordings of people in the park — the regulars — and informs us of their place within the square’s ecosystem.  His observations are precisely what you’d expect to find in New York, from a veteran New Yorker’s perspective… and yes, it’s necessarily creepy (and, at times, hilarious).

My fave?  Quarter guy.

Also worth watching?  The Methods of a Peeper.