If you've ever queued at the coffee window of that battered shipping container on Nassau Avenue, there's a decent chance Lola Evans handed you your cup. For five years she has been one of the fixed points of The Lot Radio, the Greenpoint kiosk-slash-broadcast-booth that turned a vacant lot into one of underground dance music's most recognisable stages, streamed to a global audience that has watched Four Tet, Nina Kraviz, Octo Octa and hundreds of emerging DJs play from behind that same window.

On August 3rd, The Lot Radio told its Instagram followers that Evans was recently diagnosed with cancer and is stepping away from work to begin treatment. The station has opened a GoFundMe with a $16,000 target to cover the cost of surgery and the ordinary bills that do not pause for a diagnosis: rent, groceries, transport to appointments. New York State disability benefits, the station said, will only cover a small part of what she stands to lose in income.

Why does a kiosk worker matter to a global radio station?

The Lot Radio was never just a stream. Its whole identity rests on the fact that the booth is real: a repurposed container on a corner in Williamsburg/Greenpoint, funded by the coffee, beer and pastries sold a few feet from the mixer. The people working that window are the ones who make the physical half of the project function while the DJs get the attention. The Lot Radio's own statement called Evans one of its longest-serving team members, someone who has welcomed visitors, artists and regulars with "kindness and strength" over the years, whether they were dropping in for an espresso or stepping up to play a set.

"If you've ever stopped by The Lot Radio Kiosk for a coffee in the past five years, there's a good chance you've been greeted by Lola."

That is the kind of role that rarely gets a byline anywhere, on a station or off it: the person who remembers your order, who has watched a decade of DJs cycle through the booth, who is as much a part of the place's texture as the shipping container itself.

What does the fundraiser actually cover?

The campaign is built around the practical cost of getting sick with a service job and no cushion. The Lot Radio said every dollar donated goes directly to Evans, and framed the ask plainly: help with surgery, help with rent, help with groceries, help her get to and from appointments. For a station whose whole business model is a coffee window keeping a global stream on air for free, the appeal doubles as a reminder of how thin the margin is for the people actually running that window day to day.

Why it matters

The Lot Radio's audience spans the world, but its economics are hyper-local: a handful of staff, a kiosk, a lot in Brooklyn. When one of the people holding that up gets sick, the entire structure the scene depends on is exposed, and the only real safety net is the community itself showing up.

What we think

This is exactly the kind of story dance music should be loud about and rarely is: not a lineup, not a release, just one person who has quietly made a beloved space feel like home, now needing the community she built to build something back. Donating is easy. Sharing the page costs nothing and still helps.

FAQ

What is The Lot Radio? A free online radio station broadcasting live from a repurposed shipping container in Greenpoint/Williamsburg, Brooklyn, funded by an attached coffee and drinks kiosk, that has hosted DJs including Four Tet, Nina Kraviz and Octo Octa since it launched in 2014.

How can people help Lola Evans? By donating to the GoFundMe The Lot Radio launched on August 3rd, 2026, which is targeting $16,000 for her surgery and living costs, or simply by sharing the campaign with others.

How long has Lola Evans worked at The Lot Radio? Five years, staffing the station's kiosk window and, per the station's own statement, welcoming visitors, artists and regulars with kindness and strength throughout that time.