Recovery + Regeneration: NYC's Lower East Side and East Village

The Y is a great place for fitness and health. This one even offers a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program! There has been an energy audit and a comprehensive retrofit is underway. There are two bike racks in front of this building, an art gallery and community space as well as fitness and other programs.

A treasured place in the community - anyone can shop at this Co-op and other co-op cards are honored. Working a shift a month saves 25% on organic food!

A beautiful community garden with an epic performance and gathering area. Often open during the evening. Fabulous fireflies! And what a great variety of plants, many of which are labeled. Check out the pond, children's play area and raised beds galore! This is a wonderful place to feel at peace with nature.

This is a remarkable community garden where solar powered electricity catches the sun and powers the waterfall, tools and lighting for the shed. This community garden is maintained by local residents in association with GreenThumb, a branch of NYC Parks Department that supports converting vacant lots into beautiful community gardens. 6BC is open noon-6 on weekends, and has an event schedule online.

14 blocks of public space, ideal for distancing on foot, by bicycle, skateboard, etc. Running from Houston Street to the East River, it's all contiguous (except the block just north of Delancey). Every block is different - some have recent plantings, seating and paths, others are in 'original condition'.

One of many Metro Stations along 14th Street, this is the newest and it has an elevator!

8AM to 8 PM daily! see @Loisaida_OSCC for updates and events

one of the best & most pioneering vegan cafes in NyC

The Conservancy takes care of Central Park, which delights visitors and locals alike. As of 2020, there is finally a statue depicting real women in the park, marking 100 years after women gain the right to vote...

Chelsea Community Fridge & Cupboard Neighborhood: Chelsea Location: 55 West 15th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenue)

East Village Community Fridge Neighborhood: Location: 197 First Avenue at 12th Street, by Smac Notes: open 24/7 - we empty out very fast so all donations of healthy, unopened, uneaten food welcome!instagram.com/eastvillageneighbors

LES Community Fridge at Henry Street Playhouse/ Abroms Art CenterNeighborhood: Lower East Side Location: 466 Grand Stinstagram.com/les_communityfridge

Sixth Street Community Center Fridge Neighborhood: Alphabet City Location: 638 E 6th St between Aves B and CNotes: Open 11-4 during WeekdaysThis wonderful place has also supported between 100 and 400 families with weekly food boxes since the early days of the Pandemic! See instagram.com/sixthstreetccThere's a CSA program here - community supported agriculture brings fresh organic produce weekly for pickup. There's a cafe with a commercial kitchen. You can donate directly to Sixth Street Community Center via venmo @sixthstreetccThanks to the good people at nycfridge.com who have coordinated and mapped all community fridges! It's a real testament to the tireless team work that makes this dream work.

Let the dogs run and play in this convivial section of the park. Big dogs and little dogs each have their own fenced in runs.

Check it out! Riverside refreshment from Pier 35 (the Eco Park), around the public space of Pier 36, past Pier 42 and along the esplanade through the pinch point to 23rd St and beyond through East River Park (which, sadly, is slated for demolition in Fall 2020). We hope NYC will postpone the ESCR while the pandemic is on, as the Park is a lifeline to local residents. Pier 36's current conditions could readliy improved, too.

Roomy storefront with residencies and exhibit space in a neighborhood setting. Plaza out front make this an indoor - outdoor space. Check out the Mos Collective's awesome Lab in 2020!

Green Map System promotes inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world, using mapmaking as our medium. This organization created this Open Green Map platform, OGM2, with the GIS Collective!

Wonderful community garden - it's the tops! Performance space, permaculture, garden plots and pond graced by Jackie Brookner's Prima Linga, the Gordon Matta-Clark Environmental Center and more.

Loisaida Community Fridge East Village Location: 602 E 9th St Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran ParishThis parish has had a popular soup kitchen serving people in need for many years, and recently opened this fridge - find out more at trinitylowereastside.org

A museum focusing on the urban immigration experience. Offering educational programs within recreated period rooms and walking tours around the neighborhood.

Named to commemorate a nearby African American burial ground, M'finda Kalunga community garden is a verdant haven for birds, turtles, butterflies and people. Founded in 1983 to address the area's lack of affordable housing and increasing drug problems, the M'Finda Kalunga Community Garden encourages community involvement and creating resources that will benefit the neighborhood.

Open daily 8 - 8, pedestrians are flocking to Ave B, from 14th to 6th st. Great for wheelchairs, strollers, shopping carts, bikes, skates - anything that rolls too. More to come!

Orchard Street has been car-free every Sunday for decades, originally so it can become an open air bargain district. With the Pandemic, the open street was extended to 8 am to 8pm daily.

This area's open streets are a bit fragmented around Orchard Street's 'spine'. You'll see many open dining areas, too.