Park Avenue Armory Conservancy Mounts Latest Bid To Oust Knickerbocker Greys From Historic Home

A performing arts nonprofit will square off against New York State in federal court Wednesday in its latest bid to evict a storied youth cadet corps from its century-old home at the Seventh Regiment Armory on Manhattan’s Park Avenue.The hearing marks another chapter in a protracted battle between the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy and the Knickerbocker Greys, a cadet group that has operated out of the historic Upper East Side building for more than 120 years.The conservancy is challenging a law signed by Governor Hochul last year that requires the Armory to continue allowing the Greys access to the building’s basement for weekly after-school meetings. In a complaint filed last month, the nonprofit argued that the governor’s legislation interferes with its lease rights and constitutes “a clear abuse of legislative power.”The law amounts to “a targeted political favor — obtained by the Greys through lobbying efforts and influence — to transfer valuable property rights from the Conservancy to the Greys,” the September complaint states. “Such political favoritism of one private party to the detriment of another is precisely what the U.S. Constitution forbids.”The conservancy also contends that the Greys’ continued use of the basement jeopardizes its multimillion-dollar renovation plans for the armory. “Unless this court intervenes, the conservancy’s planned construction and restoration work — years in the making — will be derailed,” the lawsuit states.The Knickerbocker Greys, founded in 1881, has been lauded for providing leadership skills to young New Yorkers from all walks of life. The organization has served more than 5,000 members over its history, with notable alumni including Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., Mayor John Lindsay, and novelist Louis Auchincloss. Numerous Greys alumni served in the Seventh Regiment and died in World Wars I and II.Leaders of the group have described the Armory space as “the glue that holds everybody together.” However, in 2022, the conservancy, which was given authority by New York State to run the historic building, handed the cadet corps an eviction notice. The nonprofit claimed that the nearly 200,000-square-foot space was “bursting at the seams” and had no room to house the 800-square-foot office of New York’s oldest afterschool program. The conservancy’s eviction attempt sparked widespread community opposition and prompted state legislators to pass a bill blocking the proceedings. Championed by State Senators Liz Krueger and José Serrano, the measure received near-unanimous support in both chambers before Governor Hochul signed it into law in December 2024.The conservancy suffered another setback last August when a New York City Civil Court rejected a petition it had filed in January 2023 seeking to remove the group. Manhattan Justice Jeffrey Zellan ruled that allowing the Greys to use the space for educational programming was “entirely in keeping” with the nonprofit’s contract.“Particularly after Judge Zellan’s favorable opinion in the State Court case, we were disappointed that the Conservancy saw fit to ‘double down’ by commencing yet another lawsuit, this time in Federal Court,” counsel for the Greys, Howard Rogatnick, tells the Sun. “But just because a lawsuit was filed doesn’t mean it has validity.”Mr. Rogatnick added that he remains “confident that ultimately justice will be done, and that our kids will soon be able to return to the Armory, where the Greys have maintained their headquarters since 1902 — more than a century before the Conservancy even existed.”

Park Avenue Armory Conservancy Mounts Latest Bid To Oust Knickerbocker Greys From Historic Home

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