Park Avenue Armory Tries To Evict Knickerbocker Greys Cadets—Again!
Local pols slammed the well-heeled non-profit—whose President Rebbeca Robertson is paid more than $600,000 a year—for defying state law and trying to have the beloved youth cadet evicted via a federal lawsuit filed by the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy.
| 03 Aug 2026 | 07:59
Local City Council members are slamming the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy for their ongoing attempt to evict the Knickerbocker Greys from the building’s basement, calling it “callous” and “ill-advised.” (
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In a letter addressed to the Conservancy, Council Speaker Jule Menin (above) and Council Member Virginia Maloney wrote that the eviction battle has “sadly tarnished the Conservancy’s reputation.” (
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City Council Members Julie Menin and Virginia Maloney are blasting the nonprofit that runs the Park Avenue Armory for its continued crusade to evict the Knickerbocker Greys youth cadets from the premises, calling it “ill-advised” move that has “sadly tarnished the Conservancy’s reputation.”
“In our era of smartphones and video games devouring the attention of our youth, it is a marvel that this historic program still summons patriotic New York City children, year after year, to drill and march in the Armory for 75 minutes on Tuesday evenings,” the Upper East Side representatives wrote in a joint letter released July 27.
The Greys earned a conditional stay on eviction from a state judge on July 10. A key plank of their case is the passage of a state law in late 2024, spearheaded by State Senator Liz Krueger and State Assemblyman Alex Bores, that is specifically meant to protect them from such a fate. Reporting this story, the Our Town headline read “Knickerbocker Greys Victorious! Hochul Signs Bill to Keep Cadet Corps at Park Ave. Armory” That victory, and sense of relief, proved short lived, however.
Defying the political will of the state, the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy sued over the law in federal court, an ongoing battle that precipitated the latest broadside against them from Menin and Maloney.
While a federal judge subsequently provided a favorable ruling in favor of the Conservancy last fall, the latest order in state court provides some reprieve for the Greys, although the judge noted that the ultimate outcome of civil proceedings will be tied to the ongoing federal case.
Founded in 1881, the 22-member Greys represent the oldest after-school education program still operating in the United States; they are tied to the traditions of the New York National Guard’s Seventh Regiment, otherwise known as the “Silk Stocking” regiment.
Past members have included former NYC Mayor John Lindsay and former NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The Greys have occupied a small 800-sq.-ft. room in the basement of the Park Avenue Armory since 1902.
The Conservancy, meanwhile, hopes to include this basement in a broader renovation of the building—which they say would have to involve kicking the Greys out of their historic home. The Conservancy is known for hosting arts and cultural programming at the Armory after signing a 99-year-lease with the state in 2006.
Menin and Maloney touch on this lease in their letter, narrowing in on a mandate in the contract which demands that the Conservancy pursue “‘interpretive and/or educational programs related to the social aesthetic, and military history of the [Armory] and other topics to the extent practicable.’”
The lawmakers then argue that the Conservancy’s ongoing eviction attempts violate this mandate, as well as “sadly tarnished the Conservancy’s reputation.
“The Conservancy is supposed to conserve the Armory’s history, not chase it away. The Greys are an integral part of that history. They occupy a small footprint in the Armory’s basement and quintessentially embody its social, military, and aesthetic spirit.”
The Council Members further express bafflement that the Conservancy claims that there will be no space in a renovated 100,000-sq.-ft. Armory for the Greys, especially after testimony revealed that the nonprofit “never even asked [emphasis in letter]” project architects to include such a space. This demonstrates a “callous disregard for these children from the outset,” Menin and Maloney charged.
According to the records published by ProPublica, the Conservancy raked in $28.7 million worth of revenue in the fiscal year that ended in 2024, while accruing $33 million worth of expenses.
Executive compensation alone exceeded $2 million, with Conservancy President Rebecca Robertson receiving a base pay of more than $605,000, up from about $593,000 the year before. The Greys, meanwhile, run on a volunteer basis and have net assets of under $50,000.
The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy did not respond to a request for comment.