Workers Busy At Hunts Point Terminal Market Ahead Of Thanksgiving Holiday

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's the busiest time of year for the Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx as they stock local stores and restaurants with Thanksgiving staples.

Food from 49 states arrives on trucks at the market for local distribution.

EXTRA: Where To Get A Thanksgiving Turkey

"There are 23,000 restaurants in the city and either directly or indirectly all of the produce that they're going to be serving for Thanksgiving is coming out of this market," said the market's executive director Myra Gordon.

Gabriela D'Arrigo, of D'Arrigo Bros., said this week they have to cram six days of business into less than three, with Tuesday being the busiest.

"This market is doing about 30 million pounds of produce over the course of about 24 hours," she said. "It's a lot of trucks coming in with a lot of different products needing to get pushed out in a timely manner."

EXTRA: Restaurants Serving Thanksgiving Dinner

D'Arrigo said there's about 30 percent increase in demand for cranberries, apples and yams during Thanksgiving week, 1010 WINS' Samantha Liebman reported.

Stephanie Katzman, of S. Katzman Produce, said she sees an increase in other items as well.

"People want to make their dishes look extra nice for their families coming over, so we do nice heirloom tomatoes, special tomato packs, specialty peppers, we do a lot of endive this week," Katzman said.

Whatever doesn't get sold is donated to City Harvest, according to Gordon.

"Those who are not as fortunate as you and I standing here will be able to have a Thanksgiving holiday as well," Gordon said.