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.
2021 Annual Awards
This spring, FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts will once again celebrate outstanding achievement in preservation, architecture, and advocacy on the Upper East Side during our 38th Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony.
Preserving our Green Upper East Side
You know FRIENDS speaks up for our historic architecture, and the preservation and zoning mechanisms in place to maintain the scale and character of our community.
The Great Preservation Bake-Off Winner is an Upper East Sider!
We are delighted to announce that the overall winner of the Great Preservation Bake-Off is an Upper East Sider! Congratulations to Bill Schutz, of Creative Cakes, and his astounding 3-foot-tall replica of the U.S. Customs House in Lower Manhattan.
Scrapping the ‘Tower on Stilts’
We are thrilled to announce that 249 East 62nd Street, the poster-child example of egregious loopholes in supertalls, has been purchased by a new owner, with a new architect, and a new as-of-right design. The proposal that was dubbed the Jetsons' Building is "outta here"!
TODAY: NY Blood Center Environmental Scoping Session
Today, December 15, NYC Department of City Planning will hold its first scoping meeting for the New York Blood Center development. The scoping hearing reviews the Draft Scope of Work for the environmental impact statement which the Blood Center must complete before the project enters the formal public review process, or ULURP.
Celebrating the Holidays and the Soul of our Community
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!).
NY Blood Center: Learn More Today and Speak Out Next Week
The New York Blood Center released plans in October 2020 to demolish its modest 1930 building on a large through-block site on East 67th Street between First and Second Avenues. Replacing the three-story building would be a 334 foot midblock commercial tower, anchored by the Blood Center on the first five floors, with the rest of the office and lab space leased to partners in the life sciences industry
2021 Annual Awards
This spring, FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts will once again celebrate outstanding achievement in preservation, architecture, and advocacy on the Upper East Side during our 38th Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony.
The Great Preservation Bake-Off & Scavenger Hunt Responses!
We are delighted to announce that the overall winner of the Great Preservation Bake-Off is an Upper East Sider! Congratulations to Bill Schutz, of Creative Cakes, and his astounding 3-foot-tall replica of the U.S. Customs House in Lower Manhattan.