Thirty years! As illustrated by the timeline above, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts is celebrating 30 years of vigorous work preserving and promoting our irreplaceable Upper East Side neighborhoods. Over the years, FRIENDS, together with invaluable supporters like you, has led a progression of successful campaigns to achieve more landmarks, while protecting those we already have.
Never has that leadership, and your support, been more important than now. The owners of the City & Suburban First Avenue Estate are continuing the effort to demolish their landmark buildings on the basis of economic hardship. This year-end appeal for contributions is therefore especially urgent, as FRIENDS must continue to lead the fight against this precedent-setting proposal and to save City & Suburban.
At the same time, we must look toward the next 30 years, as we continue to expand our presence in the community with our range of educational programs and policy initiatives. Your donation will provide additional funding for:
- Children’s Education – Our Young Friends program currently reaches over 1000 students in 50 classrooms. With 8,417 elementary school-age children living on the Upper East Side, we would like to teach them all!
- Publications – With a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Elizabeth and Robert Jeffe Fund for New York City, we were able to print an updated Architectural and Cultural Map & Guide to the Upper East Side. We intend to create more dynamic educational publications for you!
- Research – This year we usher in two new individual landmarks: the Barbizon Hotel for Women and the Yorkville Bank! So far, our Yorkville Survey has unearthed dozens of candidates for designation, and we hope to research each one for submission to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).
- Policy – In April, the City Council held a hearing on 11 new bills affecting the LPC. FRIENDS performed an in depth analysis of each of these bills and was there to testify on your behalf. We will continue to be your voice!
Your ongoing support helps sustain us in our mission, and we depend on friends like you to remain an effective advocate. At a time when there are many causes you might support, we are especially grateful for your generosity as we work to preserve the architectural legacy, livability and sense of place of the Upper East Side, and to foster the education of future leaders in the field of historic preservation. If you believe in FRIENDS and our mission, please consider a 30th Anniversary donation.
We appreciate any gift you are able to contribute that will assist us in fulfilling our mission for the next 30 years!
Warmest wishes to all,
President
