The Driving Force Behind SummerStage

The first time Heather Lubov had to commute alone was her first day at Stuyvesant High School. Even though it was a terrifying endeavor, it made her fall in love with the city.

“Suddenly I was able to meet people from all over the city and travel by myself on the subway and do things like SummerStage and other free things that were available to us. After that I really couldn’t leave,” she said.

Her upbringing and exposure to neighborhood events left a lasting impact. Now, as the executive director of CityParks Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to creating accessible programs in parks throughout the city, she leads efforts such as SummerStage, bringing around 217,000 fans to 100 concerts across the five boroughs.

Lubov’s path to CityParks has been anything but straightforward. After graduating from Columbia University, she spent six months in the corporate sector and yearned for meaningful work. This realization led her to transition into the nonprofit sector. “The nonprofits that I’ve worked in are all nonprofits that contribute back to the city in some way,” she said. She has previously worked for Partnership for the Homeless, New York Public Library, and Park Avenue Armory. “It’s all ways of giving back to the city,” she said.

Motivated to pursue more than just fundraising, Lubov sought advice from a friend who worked as a recruiter while she was at Park Avenue Armory. Coincidentally, CityParks posted an opening for an executive director position the day before. Her friend unexpectedly interviewed her for the job, resulting Lubov landing the role. Since then, she has religiously dedicated herself to CityParks for over nine years.

Lubov oversees the production of SummerStage, including making sure the funding is going into the right places.

She attends the concerts not only to oversee the production and make sure the parks are okay, but also because she loves seeing happy faces.

“You just watch someone’s expression and you feel the joy that they feel watching live music,” she said. “We had a track meet indoors last weekend and watching the kids run around the track and then have people applaud them as they end; it’s like there’s nothing better than watching that. That’s why I do it and that’s what makes it so rewarding.”

Of course, Lubov oversees more than SummerStage at CityParks. The foundation also administers grants through the NYC Green Fund to initiatives aligning with its mission. In December 2023, CityParks awarded grants to 32 grantees via the NYC Green Fund’s Treetops Grants program. These nonprofits, based in NYC, are dedicated to various projects in parks and open spaces throughout the city. In total, $913,000 was distributed to support these organizations.

Since the pandemic, CityParks Foundation has expanded its efforts to help nonprofits. “During the pandemic, we took on the role of coordinating a lot of the private nonprofit organizations that help support parks. We ended up raising money and then redistributing that money in the form of grants out to all of these nonprofit organizations,” Lubov said.

CityParks Foundation will announce its 2024 Summer Concert series on April 23. The foundation also plans to complete multiple outdoor projects with the help of volunteers.

“I encourage everyone to volunteer at least once in your local park because it’s really rewarding,” Lubov said.