New York Quarterly Meeting Friends met at Fifteenth Street on April 19, 2026, to worship, share reports, and discern together.
New York Quarterly Meeting (NYQM) Friends met for worship and business on Sunday, April 19, at Fifteenth Street Meetinghouse and online. The minutes from the meeting, including links to all reports, are here.
The meeting had a packed agenda and was well attended. Fifty people gathered in person and several more Zoomed in, including a small group gathered at Morningside Meeting.
Business began with the Trustees' proposed actions in response to Friends’ concerns about NYQM’s investments. The main concern: the quarter's investments are managed by Friends Fiduciary, which includes Amazon in its portfolio. Amazon provides technologies to the military that help them target people in Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon. Some think Quakers can be more effective at shifting behavior if we stay engaged with the company as shareholders. Others think Quaker beliefs should prevent us from remaining invested in a company that is violating our core testimonies. The discernment is ongoing. Please read the minutes for more detail.
The annual Meeting of the Corporation of the New York Quarterly Meeting was held at 2:15 pm. The separate, legally-mandated minutes are here.
Dan Seeger, clerk of Trustees, presented a proposed simplification of the 55 designated funds held by the quarter, aggregating them into eight "buckets." Comments welcome; send them to trustees@nycquakers.org. Dan also read a public apology to a former NYQM Administrator whose good reputation had been questioned. (Quakers are not always successful at refraining from gossip, and this can lead to great harm.)
We heard a report on the recent Witness Threshing Sessions from Community Organizer Jess Hobbs Pifer; the annual report from the Mary McDowell Friends School; the annual audit, which was clean; a description of the groups recently awarded grants from the Witness Fund; and reports from the NYQM Executive Director and Clerk, monthly meetings, and worship groups.
You're invited to join other NYC Friends at the next quarterly meeting, to be held in the Quaker Cemetery (outside!) on Saturday, July 25.
