2025 Village Award Winner: LUNGS
Village Preservation is proud to honor Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens, or LUNGS, as a 2025 Village Awardee! Join us in recognizing LUNGS and the five other remarkable awardees at Village Preservation’s Annual Meeting and Village Awards on Wednesday, June 11th, at the historic Great Hall at Cooper Union. Registration is free and open to all. Click here to register.
Green spaces are vital to a healthy, sustainable city. In our neighborhood, tree-lined streets frame the quaint and historic rowhouses, adding to the area’s charm. But, the importance of greenery—specifically parks and community gardens—extends far beyond aesthetics.
From a bird’s eye view, New York appears as a dense, urban center, dominated by a grid system and punctuated by bridges, skyscrapers, and an endless sea of concrete. Across the five boroughs, though, are sprinkles of green. These oases provide shade on sweltering summer days and work to absorb carbon emissions and reduce the urban heat island effect. Community gardens also provide fresh produce, often unavailable on the local level. Additionally, they provide neighbors and visitors alike a free public gathering place to relax, connect, and build community.
Enter the Loisaida United Neighborhood Gardens, or LUNGS, one of this year’s Village Award winners. Since its inception in 2011, LUNGS has strived to connect all the volunteer-based, community gardens of Loisaida, the East Village, and the Lower East Side, ensuring that there is permanent access to green spaces in lower Manhattan.
Working closely with 52 community gardens in the East Village, Loisada, and the Lower East Side (including some of the oldest gardens found in New York City), LUNGS operates under three core values and pillars: cooperation, coordination, and communication. These gardens are by and for the community—maintained by volunteers and managed by GreenThumb/NYC Parks Department, New York Restoration Project, the Manhattan Land Trust, or established through the Trust for Public Land.
Throughout the year, LUNGS supports a wide array of community-based events and programming that enrich the neighborhood. The garden season runs from April 1st to October 31st; during this period, LUNGS hosts the annual Spring Awakening and Harvest Arts Festivals, bookending the season. The Spring Awakening—originally scheduled for April 26, 2025, but postponed to May 10 due to weather—features traditional music, cultural dancing, costumes, ponies, all while parading through a tour of the neighborhood’s gardens. Similarly, in the Fall, the Harvest Arts Festival occurs in late September or early October as a natural wind down to the summer bounty, honoring the inevitable changing of the seasons.
In 2022, LUNGS drew inspiration from Joe Papp’s iconic Shakespeare in the Park by creating the annual LUNGS Summer Theater Festival. An idea that originated in the East River Park Amphitheater in 1954, LUNGS’ Summer Theater Festival seeks to make art and entertainment more accessible to the public while simultaneously offering local performers and artists opportunities to showcase their talents. Last summer, the festival featured puppet shows, poetry, and plays, reinforcing the idea that green spaces are not just for growing plants, but also for growing culture and community.
LUNGS is also dedicated to sharing its mission through community outreach and educational programming. Since 2014, the organization has provided summer employment opportunities for 12 local youth each year, offering a hands-on experience, working in the community gardens and learning about ongoing environmental issues. For younger children, LUNGS runs The Living Classroom (TLC), an interactive program designed for elementary students. For older adults, the Senior Summer Camp provides engaging activities that promote wellness, learning, and connection within the gardens.
Since 2013, LUNGS has offered its own pay-as-you-go Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), allowing community members to purchase and enjoy fresh, locally grown produce. Unlike other CSAs, LUNGS offers a drop-in, making it all the more accessible.
Currently, LUNGS advocates for city funding and attention, citing the importance of green spaces in New York. Focused on finding a sustainable New York, on Saturday, May 24th, from noon to 2:00 pm, they are sponsoring a public, mayoral forum on community gardens and environmental policy in New York at St. Mark’s Church in the East Village.
Through its tireless advocacy, inclusive programming, and unwavering commitment to environmental justice, LUNGS has become a cornerstone of sustainability and community in Lower Manhattan. Join us (register or get more info here) on June 11, and together we’ll celebrate the people and organizations that make our community thrive. LUNGS is a shining example of that spirit and impact, and we look forward to honoring them.