The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation’s planned eviction from the academy’s Kings Point campus was delayed Tuesday after a federal judge issued a week-long reprieve to prepare for the upcoming legal challenge.
The academy’s decision to remove its alumni association from its rent-free office on campus in advance of upcoming classroom renovations is facing pushback from the group’s officials and supporters, but the academy maintains that the move is necessary and that the alumni association has refused to either pay rent or work with the school to find an alternative location.
“Last November, I approached the leaders of the foundation to ask that they find new offices because the campus space, which they use rent free, would be needed once classroom renovations begin. Given the current budget environment and in an effort to avoid concerns about preferential treatment, I also asked them to work with us to develop a lease and begin paying rent in the meantime,” said a statement on the academy’s Web site. “In four months, the foundation declined to pay rent or work with us in good faith to find an acceptable alternative.”
The alumni association, which raises millions of dollars for the academy, issued a statement accusing Merchant Marine Academy Superintendent James Helis, a retired army colonel, of trying to force the group off campus.
“When every answer leads to ‘I want you off the academy,’ things like lease rates, which buildings are being renovated when, why Melville [Hall] is suddenly going under renovations, etc., become moot and have become an easy excuse for what the end result is – the superintendent wants the AAF off the campus,” wrote the association’s board.
“We believe that if all the facts were on the table it would be clear that the new superintendent has unstated ulterior motives for trying to force the Alumni Association and Foundation off campus and that these unjustified actions are to the detriment of the greater good of the academy and the midshipmen,” continued the board. “We would prefer to seek constructive alternatives, and will continue to do so.”
One such possible alternative – moving the group to the alumni association-owned Lerner House – would run afoul of Kings Point zoning code, as the village has not approved the property for commercial use, according to the academy’s statement. The association alleged in its statement that Helis had denied an offer to donate the property to the academy, thereby avoiding the zoning issue.
The academy has stated that it needs the offices for classroom space during renovations, and that the current rent-free agreement should be terminated “in order to avoid charges of preferential treatment.”
Both groups will appear in federal court in Central Islip Monday, according to Newsday.
