Facilities projects are improving NYC Quaker properties. Roof replacement at Brooklyn Meeting is underway and fence restoration at Fifteenth St begins soon.
Welcome to a regularly recurring update on facilities improvements happening at New York Quarterly Meeting properties. New York Quarterly Meeting, or NYQM, is the organization of NYC Quakers that owns and maintains properties at two sites: downtown Brooklyn, including Brooklyn Meetinghouse; and 15 Rutherford Place, east of Union Square in Manhattan, including Fifteenth Street Meetinghouse. The following is based on a conversation with Steve Petry, Director of Facilities and Finances at NYQM.
The roof replacement at Brooklyn Meetinghouse has begun and scaffolding has been installed to protect passersby. Prep work is well underway and workers will begin to remove the roof soon. The roof work will be done in sections; a section of roof will be removed, new insulation will be added, and the new metal roof will be installed. Surprisingly, there have been two fires in the meetinghouse's attic, one in the 1890s and one in the 1930s. Both were put out quickly. Beams were charred but remained strong and solid enough to keep in place. Some were reinforced – “sistered” – with planks of wood on either side. You can see the charred beams with older (50 years ago-ish) reinforcements attached to the sides of charred beams, and some with newer reinforcements, in the photos below. The new roof should be installed by mid-late January 2026.
Another photo shows that the circular vent in the ceiling of the meeting room that we sometimes refer to as the “oculus” is attached to a large, silver duct in the attic that carries hot air away from the meeting room. Inside the ductwork is a powerful and quiet fan that comes on automatically when needed. In the last photo you can see an inside view of the half-moon window above the main entrance to the meetinghouse.
Brooklyn Meeting Committees, including Property, Library, Ministry and Counsel, and Social Hour, are meeting with the NYQM Facilities Director Steve Petry and an architect to begin planning the revitalization of the social hour room. This room is well used by different sized groups for different types of events; maintaining flexibility and usability is key. Renovation work will almost certainly include replacing the floors and ceiling tiles and installing lighting that offers control over the amount of light in the space. (Friends may remember having to hang fabric over the lights to dim them in the past.) Discussions on other ways to revitalize the space are ongoing. The work in the social hour room will happen in 2026.
The fence project at Fifteenth Street Meetinghouse is very close to starting. A building permit from the city has been granted but, because this work will affect the sidewalk, a permit from the Dept of Transportation is also needed. The approval of that permit is expected very soon.
Once the permits are granted, work on the fence will begin in sections. The first section to be renovated will include the fence from the corner of the Penington House property to the Fifteenth Street meetinghouse gate on 15th Street. The second section will be from 15th Street gate and around the corner to the main gate to the meetinghouse on Rutherford St. The third section will be from the main gate to the corner of the property line of the central building (15 Rutherford). Work on the sections may overlap.
To renovate the fence, workers will lift and remove the fence, take it off-site, and sandblast it. Once that’s done they’ll be able to assess the condition of the fence and discover how much of it needs to be repaired or replaced. Removing the fence may also reveal damage to the bluestone sidewalk. The conditions that are discovered during this process will affect how much time the entire project will take.
Renovation of 15 Rutherford Place's Room 2, AKA the first floor NYQM office, is well underway! Interior walls have been removed, opening up the space for more flexible uses. The floor and lighting will be replaced, and the walls will be repaired and repainted. The goal is to create a new multipurpose meeting space for community use.
In the planning stages: Steve is currently gathering bids for the replacement of the roof at Fifteenth Street. More soon!
