Friends Seminary is an independent K-12 school in Manhattan within the landmarked district in the East Village. The oldest continuously coeducational school in New York City, Friends Seminary serves 794 students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. The school's mission is to prepare students "not only for the world that is, but to help them bring about a world that ought to be." It is guided by a service mission statement and a diversity mission statement. Friends is a member of New York's Independent School Diversity Network.

Robert Murray (1721–1786), a prominent merchant, was born in Scotland, arriving with his father John Murray from Perthshire, Scotland, moved at age one to Ireland. He immigrated with his family to Pennsylvania in 1732. Murray operated a mill as a teenager. After he married Mary Lindley in 1744, the couple stayed in Pennsylvania a couple of years and moved to North Carolina about 1750. He moved to New York City of the Province of New York in 1753 and became a successful importer and exporter, ship owner, merchant, and dock owner. Murray did business with the British and was loyal to them. When he unloaded cargo from Britain, against the colonist's law, he incurred their rath and was saved from being banned from New York by his wife, Mary Lindley Murray, who also entertained British soldiers so that a regiment of the Continental Army could safely pass a larger contingent of British soldiers. He built a mansion on Murray Hill overlooking the East River with extensive gardens.