Park Avenue Armory Faces Pressure To Drop Knickerbocker Greys Eviction

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — For more than a century, children ages 6 to 16 have practiced marching drills and learned leadership skills in the basement of the Park Avenue Armory.

But for the past three years, the Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy, which operates the historic building, has been trying to evict the Knickerbocker Greys, a youth cadet corps that has called the Armory home since 1902.

Now, amid a years-long court battle and mounting pressure from local elected officials, the Greys are again calling on the Conservancy to abandon its effort to remove them.

"The Greys have had their headquarters at the Armory for 124 [years]," Knickerbocker Greys President Adrienne Rogatnick told Patch. "We are a living landmark."

Upper East Side Councilmembers Julie Menin and Virginia Maloney sent a scathing letter to the Park Avenue Armory on July 28, calling on the Conservancy to drop its ongoing eviction lawsuit against the Greys.

"Let us be clear: the attempted eviction of the Greys makes zero legal or practical sense and has sadly tarnished the Conservancy’s reputation," Menin and Maloney wrote.

The Conservancy has not responded to Patch's request for comment.

Menin and Maloney's letter came weeks after a New York judge declined to allow the Conservancy to immediately evict the Greys, ruling on July 10 that the Conservancy would have to prove that the youth group's use of space in the Armory materially interferes with its ability to operate the building.

The judge put the eviction proceeding on hold while a related federal lawsuit plays out and ordered that the Greys continue to have use of and access to their current space during the stay.

Central to the dispute is a state law passed in 2024 that protects "legacy cadet corps" — organizations that have used New York City armories for more than 100 years. The law requires that qualifying groups be provided space in their longtime armories, provided their use does not interfere with the building's management.

"The Conservancy’s obsession with removing a great organization that’s benefitted thousands of children in so many ways for over a century defies all reason," Rogatnick told Patch. "It’s certainly contrary to the will of the community as expressed numerous times over the past several years."

The Armory's current lease, signed in 2006, also includes a mandate to support programs related to the building's social, aesthetic and military history — a provision Menin and Maloney pointed to in their letter.

Upper East Side State Sen. Liz Krueger also spoke out in support of the Greys this week.

"It's absurd that the Park Ave Armory Conservancy is still working so hard to evict a 125-[year]-old kids' afterschool program, two years after we had to pass a state law to protect them," Krueger wrote on social media. "I will continue to stand [with] the Greys until the Conservancy comes to their senses."

Krueger's involvement in the dispute stretches back decades. In the July court decision, the judge cited a 2022 letter from Krueger recounting a 2006 meeting in which the Conservancy's president had described organizations already using the Armory, including the Greys, as an "integral part of the tradition and future of the Armory."

"It’s past time for the Conservancy to do the right thing and drop the lawsuits," Rogatnick told Patch. "The Greys just want to return to our Home — it’s that simple."

See the full letter from the Upper East Side lawmakers below.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.