Heartfelt greetings to all, from Friends' President and staff, now working from homes in Yorkville (Franny), Boerum Hill (Lara), Stuyvesant (Felicia), and Pelham (Heidi). Rachel is safe at home on maternity leave with her twin girls.

We know you are all experiencing similar relocations, and finding new ways to do all sorts of things. I know Governor Cuomo started by calling this a "pause", but it already feels like a long time, and none of us knows how long it will be.

But I can report that we at Friends are not paused in our work preserving and celebrating the architectural legacy, livability, and sense of place of the Upper East Side. While our live programs may be postponed, this is a great time to look at one of our favorite recent videos, "Shaped by Immigrants" about the history of Yorkville. We are planning to post other things that will be of interest, including units, based on our education program, for teachers running remote classrooms, as well as parents and children.

And our advocacy continues with a variety of administrative and legal challenges, pressing our goal to "loose the loopholes" and restore reason, appropriateness, and a rigorous public process to land use decisions and new development.

We have the most wonderful community here, and if it temporarily has to relocate to virtual sites, we are happy to be your hosts, looking forward to when we can be together again in person.

With warm regards, elbow bumps, and all good wishes that you and your family and friends are doing well, and being careful and safe.