Exclusive | NYC Council speaker slams party-loving Park Avenue Armory as it fights to evict child cadet group after 124 years
Leave the patriotic kids alone!City Council Speaker Julie Menin put the party-loving bigwigs at the Park Avenue Armory on blast over their “ill-advised” lawsuit to evict a child cadet group from its historic meeting place.The Knickerbocker Greys have been headquartered in the Upper East Side armory since 1902, when Theodore Roosevelt was president.“The Conservancy is supposed to conserve the Armory’s history, not chase it away,” Menin and Councilwoman Virginia Maloney said in a scathing letter sent Monday to Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy President Rebecca Robertson.The nonprofit Park Avenue Armory has received $25 million in city cultural funds over the years, the council members noted.The armory leases the property from the state — and lawmakers and Gov.Kathy Hochul even approved a law in 2024 to prevent the Knickerbocker Greys from being evicted.But the armory executives then filed a “tone-deaf” federal lawsuit to overturn it, the council members fumedThe Greys have been fighting eviction from their headquarters — an 800-square-foot space in the sprawling 200,000-square foot facility — as the conservancy claims it needs the space for a planned renovation.“Let us be clear: the attempted eviction of the Greys makes zero legal or practical sense and has sadly tarnished the Conservancy’s reputation,” said the lawmakers, who both represent parts of the Upper East Side.The Post previously reported the nonprofit has been using the 146-year-old building to host exclusive affairs like fashion shows by Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta.
It has also been the site of after-parties with celebrity guest lists that include the likes of Beyoncé, Victoria Beckham and Orlando Bloom.Menin and Maloney noted the armory is trying to boot the kids while rubbing elbows with high society.The conservancy holds a 99-year lease of the Armory that it obtained in 2006 from the New York State Empire State Development Corporation.Morning...