Community Board Backs Knickerbocker Greys, Calls for State To Cut Off Funding to Armory Over Eviction Plans

An Upper East Side community board is urging the state to withhold funding from an arts venue, over its plans to evict America’s oldest after-school program — a patriotic cadet corps.The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy has asked the Knickerbocker Greys to vacate its premises by June 1, after 120 years of training at the Armory. The Conservancy says it can no longer accommodate the cadets, aged between seven and 16, as it renovates to increase its performing arts spaces.Last week, Community Board 8 passed a resolution in support of the Greys, urging New York State to negotiate an agreement between the Conservancy and the Knickerbocker Greys that will allow them to remain in the space. The final resolution includes a more ominous amendment: “that the Conservancy be denied public funding, whether through the State or through the City,” if the Greys are not allowed to stay.“We’re expressing the view of the community that what we want to see is for the Greys to remain in the Armory,” said the community board chairman, Russell Squire. “We’re expressing that to the governor and joining our voice to the voice of our elected officials who have made the same request.”The elected officials who have spoken out in support of the Greys include the Manhattan borough president, Mark Levine, Representative Carolyn Maloney, state Senator Elizabeth Krueger, Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright, and City Councilmember Julie Menin.Mr. Levine, Ms. Maloney, Ms. Seawright, and Ms. Menin have all written directly to Governor Hochul. A representative for Ms. Menin says that the governor’s office had confirmed receipt of her letter but has not yet responded.Supporters hope that the Armory might be persuaded to allow the Greys to stay, but they also acknowledge the possibility of a “direct lease” with the state, that would allow the Greys to use the space independent of the Armory. The Conservancy itself leases the space of the Park Avenue Armory from the state, and two other tenants of the Armory, the National Guard and Lenox Hill Women’s Shelter, already have such direct leases with the state.At the Community Board meeting, Ms. Maloney praised the Greys for “instilling the values of leadership, responsibility, commitment, and citizenship” in thousands of local children. She defended the Greys’ right to continue their operations at the Armory — which she said was “a purpose of the Armory, really.”“In this day and age, where the kids haven’t gotten together and the internet and Instagram are pulling kids’ time away,” the Greys have come to fill a particular niche, says the Greys’ board president, Adrienne Rogatnick. “It’s a little community and neighborhood, where everyone is taking care of each other… It’s a place where character is built.”In defiance of the pending eviction plan, the Knickerbocker Greys will hold drills today at their home of 120 years. Due to the pandemic, it will be nearly two years since the Greys have held drills in the Armory, and it might be the last.Among those who drilled in the Armory as Greys include Mayor Lindsay, Vice President Rockefeller, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Community Board Backs Knickerbocker Greys, Calls for State To Cut Off Funding to Armory Over Eviction Plans

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