FRIENDS Gone Virtual: Looking Back and Forward!

FRIENDS' dedication to our neighborhood remains steadfast, even in this most unusual of years. Despite the pandemic, our office continued to educate and enrich our understanding of the Upper East Side.

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Upper East Side Building History Detectives

Get ready to be a skyline sleuth! Have you ever wanted to learn more about a building in your neighborhood? When it was built, which architect designed it, and who may have lived there?

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bricks and brownstone

The Brownstone Bible is Back!

Preservationist and co-author Patrick Ciccone joined FRIENDS virtually on September 24th to discuss the process and development of the newest edition of Bricks and Brownstone.

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Decorated Tenement: An Illustrated History

Architectural historian Zachary Violette joined FRIENDS virtually in July 2020 to discuss his book, The Decorated Tenement: How Immigrant Builders And Architects Transformed The Slum In The Gilded Age.

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The Fight to Save First Avenue Estate: Looking Back

FRIENDS recently capped its weeklong series exploring the cultural and historical context of Yorkville’s City and Suburban First Avenue Estate and the decades-long battle to preserve it, which relied upon both local advocates and the legal system at our country’s highest court.

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Historic Yorkville Family Tour

Children of all ages explored historic Yorkville on this virtual family tour led by FRIENDS' Director of Education in June 2020.

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Reimagined Row Houses

Andrew Dolkart discussed the history of early 20th century row house modernization, written about in The Row House Reborn, for FRIENDS in May 2020.

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A Perilous Path to Protection: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of a Landmark

April 2020 marks the 55th anniversary of the New York City Landmarks Law, and this year, our neighborhood has something extra special to celebrate as we honor this milestone year. As of October 2019, the City and Suburban First Avenue Estate has been saved from demolition, thanks to a years-long,

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Annual Awards 2020: Honoring New York City Council

In this second of our series to celebrate FRIENDS 2020 Annual Awards recipients we highlight our 2020 Expression of Thanks Awardee New York City Council for adopting Resolution No. 916, which amends the Zoning Resolution to put a cap on exempt mechanical void space within new buildings in residential neighborhoods.

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UPDATES: Annual Awards & Public Programs

Given the current state of the COVID-19 outbreak, and out of an abundance of caution and respect for you, our members, and our colleagues, FRIENDS has decided to postpone the events scheduled for April, including our 37th Annual Meeting & Awards.

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