A Milbank LLP pro bono team successfully negotiated an innovative tri-party usage agreement on behalf of the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood (the Y) that will allow it to lease space, along with Fort Tryon Jewish Center (FTJC), in Fort Washington Collegiate Church (FWCC) on 181st Street in northern Manhattan.
FWCC was searching for partners in need of additional space who shared the church’s commitment to serving the community. The Milbank team represented the Y in complex tri-party usage agreement negotiations over several months. The new space will be vital to the Y’s launch of a new adult workforce program overseen by the US Department of Labor, as well as to the potential expansion of early childhood education programs, after school care, and teen programs.
The win-win-win arrangement demonstrates the benefits of interfaith cooperation in driving community engagement, and the organizations are looking forward to collaborating on interfaith social justice programs.
The Milbank team included partner Jonathan Karl and associate Robert Katsnelson.
The YM & YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood, established in 1917, is a Jewish community center serving an ethnically and socio-economically diverse constituency. Fort Tryon Jewish Center is an independent synagogue with a congregation comprising a diverse medley of families and individuals from many backgrounds. Fort Washington Collegiate Church, a Reformed Protestant Dutch church constructed in 1909, has been a valuable community resource for generations.
