The recently released It's a Helluva Town: Joan K Davidson, the J.M. Kaplan Fund and the Fight for a Better New York is the perfect holiday gift for the preservation aficionado in your life (even if that's you!).

It tells the story of the intrepid New Yorker and organizations whose innovative efforts, supported by the Fund, helped New York evolve into the 1960s, rebound from the 1970s, and blossom in subsequent decades.

As we contemplate what a post-pandemic New York should be like, the stories in the book can help inform, instruct, and inspire!

Shaped by Immigrants is a richly illustrated and engaging history of New York City's most fascinating immigrant communities, featuring breathtaking archival images and dazzling contemporary photographs. Since the book's release over a year ago, we've been thrilled by its reception, including the recognition as an "outstanding preservation and scholarly project" by the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America!

FRIENDS wants you to know that there is still time to place an order and have it delivered for the holidays!

Proceeds from book sales directly support FRIENDS' mission to preserve the architectural legacy, livability, and sense of place of the Upper East Side and be the leading voice for common sense development.