A venerable youth cadet corps, the Knickerbocker Greys, is one step closer to being granted permission to stay in the Seventh Regiment Armory on Manhattan’s Park Avenue, its home for more than 120 years, following the passage of legislation in the state assembly last night.  

The bill’s passing brings the Greys closer to victory in its two-year quarrel with the Park Avenue Conservancy, a performing arts nonprofit organization that sought to evict the Greys from its home at the armory. The legislation now awaits the signature of Governor Hochul.

The president of the Greys’s board, Adrienne Rogatnick, says she hopes that Mrs. Hochul will recognize the bipartisan bill as an effort that everyone can get behind: “It was almost a unanimous vote in both the Senate and Assembly, and that tells the governor that it’s not a contentious bill, which works in our favor.” 

“The Knickerbocker Greys are a beloved part of the Upper East Side, and have been for over a century,” a supporter of the bill, Elizabeth Kreuger of the state senate, told the Sun following its passage. “There’s plenty of room in the Armory to support the great arts programming that the Conservancy presents as well as continuing to be the permanent home of the Greys.”

Colonel David Menegon, the 11th commandant of the Greys, tells the Sun that the bill’s passing “is a reflection of what the community has felt for the past 100 years.” 

“It’s a very powerful organization,” he adds. “You don’t find many organizations that draw on so many diverse backgrounds for kids to work in harmony.” 

The proposal, supported by Ms. Krueger along with another state senator, Jose Serrano, and an assembly member, Rebecca Seawright, was passed by the assembly Monday night after a unanimous vote of support in the senate in June 2023. 

The legislation’s approval comes after a group of Greys members visited Albany in May to meet with members of the legislature and gather support for their case. “The kids charmed the pants off of everybody,” Ms. Rogatnick tells the Sun. 

The bill amends parts of the state’s military laws to grant the legacy cadet corps “access and use for permanent headquarters” of the Park Avenue Armory space “for the purposes of programming during periods which are not periods of civil or military emergency.” 

The conservancy, which was given authority by New York State to run the historic armory on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, had 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 cadet corps was given an eviction notice last summer, and the matter was disputed in housing court. 

The Knickerbocker Greys, founded in 1881, has been lauded for providing leadership skills to young New Yorkers from all walks of life. The armory space is “the glue that holds everybody together,” Ms. Rogatnick told the Sun in October. She called the conservancy’s actions “a disgrace.”

The nonprofit organization has served 5,000 current and past members, including notable alumni such as Vice President Rockefeller, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr., Mayor Lindsay, and the novelist Louis Auchincloss. Numerous members of the Greys went on to serve in the Seventh Regiment and died during World Wars I and II. 

The Armory’s attempt to evict the Greys sparked widespread community opposition and prompted city and state legislators to push the bill to end the eviction proceedings. 

“The conservancy was created by statute and control of the armory was given to them on a number of assumptions, one of which was the Greys would stay, and so I think the state needs to take action,” an assembly member for the 73rd district, Alex Bores, said. 

The conservancy has not yet responded to the Sun’s request for comment. 

“It’s unfortunate that the Conservancy forced the Greys to go all the way to Albany just so they could stay in their home on the Upper East Side, but I’m very pleased that this bill has now passed both houses,” Ms. Kreuger tells the Sun. “I urge Governor Hochul to sign it quickly.” 

It’s been a long road to get to this point, Ms. Rogatnick says, but “an army of supporters” have been with her every step of the way. “Everyone has chipped in wherever they can. It’s just an amazing thing,” she adds.  

Colonel Menegon has found a silver lining in the drawn-out legal battle. The entire process has shown his cadets how to be “activists” and identify the “resources and people” to help them accomplish something that they care about, he notes. 

“My cadets have learned a lot through this process,” Colonel Menegon says. “They went to Albany and they met with legislators. It’s very empowering.”