The smell of strawberries and basil returned to the World Trade Center site last month as four farmers set up stands for the first time since Sept 11, 2001.

		The trade center Greenmarket was back at the corner of Church and Vesey streets, where it began 22 years before. Tables piled with tomatoes, blueberries, zucchini and blooming pink annuals brightened an otherwise drab strip of concrete just north of the PATH station. Workers and residents were happy to see them. Laura Bazer, who works on Park Place, said she ran over when she heard. "I think it's wonderful," she said, holding a bag of yellow squash and sugar snap peas. "It's great that they're back." The feelings were mutual. "I've seen people today I haven't seen since 9/11," said Kernie Kernan of Kernan Farms. "It's nice to know they're okay."
The market will be in operation every Thursday until Thanksgiving, with a Tuesday market possibly to be added over the summer. But by next spring, the market will likely need to find a new home again as the World Trade Center site becomes a full-fledged construction area. The World Trade Center Greenmarket began on Church Street in 1982 and moved around the corner to Liberty Street in 1993. It was revived last year in Liberty Park, between Broadway and Church Street, but business was slow. Kernan said that before Sept. 11 his company sold 50 boxes of peaches and blueberries in a day. Last year at the new location, sales were down about 75 percent. The site next to the PATH station also presents difficulties. Because the farmers can't park their trucks at the stands, as they do at other markets, they have to carry all the produce from the curb at Church Street and park a block away. At 8 a.m. the first day back, with just a trickle of customers, Kernan was not optimistic. "You can't come and lose money every day," he said. But by 9 a.m., as a steadier stream of commuters emerged from the PATH station, the number of shoppers was growing. "I'm surprised how busy it is," said Ron Samascott, of Samascott Orchards, as he weighed bags of apples and was welcomed back by familiar faces. Kernan looked toward where the twin towers once stood and reflected on being back. "It's nice to be here, to be alive," he said. "I appreciate the fact that I do have a second chance. A lot of people don't."