Maintenance and Improvements to NYC Quaker Buildings

Welcome to a new monthly 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 around 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.

A couple of years ago, a property assessment identified some urgent issues at our properties that needed attention. The first major project was repairing the facade at the 15 Rutherford Place complex. The facade had a lot of previously-deferred maintenance work to be completed, including fixing broken bricks, repairing mortar, and adding a protective coating. The project started in September 2024 and finished in late winter (March 2025) and required scaffolding around the buildings at 15 Rutherford Place.

The next big project will be replacing the roof of the Brooklyn Meetinghouse. Work will start around October 13, when scaffolding will go up around the building. The scaffolding will be visible from the inside but will still allow light into the meeting room. It will extend into part of the playground but the playground will still be usable. The roof replacement will take 3-4 months and will involve making some structural repairs and installing a new metal roof. The new roof will be a dark gray metal, replacing the asphalt shingles of the current roof. The new metal roof should last 100 years and is more environmentally sustainable than asphalt. 

At 15 Rutherford Place, a large fence restoration project will begin around November 1. Restoring the historic cast iron fence around the Fifteenth Street Meeting complex may take over a year, depending on conditions. Here’s the plan: 

• The fence will be removed in sections and taken off site
• Fence sections will be sandblasted to remove paint and corrosion
• Fence pieces will be repaired as needed and new pieces will be cast for sections that are unrepairable
• On site, all stones and fence foundations will be lifted and reset so they’re even and straight
• Then, the fence will be brought back on site and reconstructed. 

There won’t be scaffolding around the buildings during this process, though there will be periodic, partial sidewalk closures. The entire sidewalk should not be blocked at any time, to keep the students at Friends Seminary from having to walk in the street. Once the fence is removed for cleaning and repair, temporary fences will be installed; these will be plastic traffic barriers with fences built into them. This project will not affect access to the meetinghouse. 

Next time, we'll talk about the start of these projects and look ahead to the future projects that are planned. Have questions or suggestions? Email sarah@nycquakers.org.