We give local residents a voice and ensure their views are heard by policy makers, business owners and partner organizations. We conduct neighborhood surveys, encourage engagement, and inform and educate the community on important local issues. Sign up for our email list to keep up with the latest!
During the height of the pandemic, the East Village Community Coalition became deeply involved in mutual aid efforts to address food insecurity. Stewarding community fridges and pantries, mobilizing neighbors and local businesses to share excess food, and coordinating volunteer-led food rescue operations across the neighborhood.
Building on this work, the EVCC has embraced food insecurity as a core initiative. We are expanding our efforts to ensure that surplus food is rescued and redistributed to those in our community who face food insecurity, or who may be unable to shop or cook for themselves.
Today, the EVCC facilitates monthly gatherings that bring together previously siloed local stakeholders working toward food justice. These meetings foster collaboration, share resources, and connect volunteers across a vibrant local network from faith-based organizations hosting pantries and soup kitchens to grassroots groups rescuing and redistributing food that would otherwise go to waste.
Through connection, collaboration, and action, the EVCC is building a stronger, more equitable East Village where no neighbor goes hungry and no good food is thrown away.
There are many ways to protect the future of our neighborhood, while enjoying it as much as possible today. Our walkable, tree-lined streets and community gardens are one of the reasons people love the East Village. Open Streets, better public transportation and expanded recycling and composting programs are a few things we champion in order to protect the East Village for generations to come.
See current sustainability issues impacting the East Village
Independent shops and services are an essential part of life in the East Village. From culturally symbolic restaurants to independent bookstores, kooky vintage shops to holistic pet stores, our merchants are the lifeblood of the neighborhood and are a reflection of historic roots of our community.
The EVCC continues to press for any and all measures to support the small businesses that keep our neighborhood vibrant, diverse and magnetic.
Explore our interactive directory of local independent shops and services.
Or, dig deeper into important issues on Retail Diversity.
Many of our neighborhood’s historic buildings have incredible stories to tell. We help preserve and protect our streetscape by working with local partners, city and state officials and policy makers, as well as residents and business leaders on zoning, landmark designation and the creation and expansion of Historic Districts.
Check out our Neighborhood Resources and stay tuned for more interactive ways to explore our Historic Districts and Landmarks!
Join our friends at the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (LESPI) for the opening of the outdoor banner exhibition Brick and Stone: Landmarking Our LES Heritage. The exhibition features Lower East Side buildings for which LESPI has submitted Requests for Evaluation for landmarking, and runs through June 30 on the fence outside the Clemente.
Opening Ceremony: 2-5pm Sat May 2 at the Clemente, 107 Suffolk Street
Join EVCC Artist-in-Residence Robin McMillan on the Staten Island Ferry to hear the greatest New York story never told—the life of Daniel Tompkins. Learn how Tompkins organized, armed, and even financed the defeat of the British in the northeast, preserving New York City, its crucial Harbor, and the Hudson River—all while launching the first Staten Island Ferry! So all aboard the ferry for a fascinating story—and a salute to New York’s forgotten hero.
Bring eyes, ears, and perhaps a camera to capture the journey. Rain or shine!
A Ferry Story—About the Man Who Saved America
Watch films about taking over abandoned buildings, fixing them up, and turning them into communal housing in the Lower East Side. After each showing, there will be a discussion and Q&A with special guests! More info to come!
Doors at 6pm every Thu Apr 23 till May 28
Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, 155 Loisaida Ave
Flyer: @packingpeanutz
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