The United States Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation vacated its headquarters on the academy’s Kings Point campus May 13, after a federal court refused to issue an injunction against the group’s eviction.
The group is yet to find a new location, and efforts to convert a private home into an office in Kings Point have run into zoning roadblocks, according to association president Jim Tobin.
“We’re working remotely, trying to put it together while I’m looking at spaces in Great Neck and Lake Success and where ever else,” Tobin said. “We’re actively looking. It’s a pain in the neck.”
The decision move came 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 faced 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.
“Following the court’s decision last week denying its motion, the alumni association and foundation vacated its offices in the Fitch Building and withdrew their lawsuit against the Academy,” wrote academy spokesperson Marcie Katcher in an e-mail. “The Academy continues to value its relationship with all alumni and seek opportunities to work with alumni who are committed to building a strong future for the Academy.”
“The Board of the USMMA Alumni Association & Foundation (AAF) regrets to inform you that we were unsuccessful in court in our attempt to remain on board the Academy,” wrote the association’s board in a letter on its Web site. “The new Superintendent James Helis, backed by outgoing Maritime Administrator David Matsuda and outgoing Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, has been successful in forcing our Alumni organization off the campus where we have been at the invitation of the Academy for almost 60 years.”
The association’s board has portrayed the academy’s efforts to push the group out of its offices as a targeted attack on the association by Helis and other administrators.
But the academy has maintained that it needs the space for classrooms, and that it has tried to work with the association 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, said a statement on the academy’s Web site. “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. In four months, the foundation declined to pay rent or work with us in good faith to find an acceptable alternative.”
Tobin said he believed the group was targeted for its disagreements with decisions made by LaHood, whose department oversees the academy. The group had sparred with LaHood and academy administrators on matters including the 2011 reassignment of former Superintendent Philip Greene Jr. and the closure of the academy’s Global Maritime and Transportation School.
“We were the true independent voice here and the secretary doesn’t like to be questioned,” Tobin said. “We think that this was the secretary’s parting shot at us.”
According to the association’s board, the court ruled that the group did not have an irrevocable license to use the on-campus space. The association maintained that the millions of dollars it raises for the academy should have qualified as a consideration in substitution for rent, but the court declined to halt the eviction.
The academy stated prior to the court decision 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.”
