After over twenty years on the sixth floor of 43 West 23rd Street in Manhattan, the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York (GSCGNY) is moving to Wall Street due to an increase in rent.
GSCGNY is just one of hundreds of councils in the US. A Girl Scout council presides over a specific geographic region and is in charge of creating the bylaws by which the Girl Scout troops must abide by. In this case, GSCGNY presides over New York City, including roughly 28,000 girls and 9,000 volunteers who roam in and out of the office throughout the day for a multitude of reasons.
In an email sent on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, Barbara Murphy-Warrington, the CEO of GSCGNY, announced the relocation of the council’s headquarters. The move is to take place in early 2015 “when our current long-term lease expires,” Murphy-Warrington said.
The office space that GSCGNY currently occupies is not available for a lease renewal at the same price that is currently offered. The dramatic escalation of rent prices in the Flatiron District, where council is located, inhibits council from remaining on 23rd Street.
The council will move to the seventh floor of 40 Wall Street, a 17,500 square foot area in lower Manhattan. GSCGNY looked at over 50 locations and found 40 Wall Street to be the most economical choice that still provides a quality space for both the council employees and the scouts that come in and out of the office throughout the day.
“I wasn’t aware the council was planning to move until my leader told me, but I’m happy they are moving to a bigger and better place,” Girl Scout Rosie Lu said.
A Girl Scout for the past twelve years, Lu often travels to the council building after school for meetings and workshops. “I’m happy that they found a bigger office. They always seemed a little overcrowded during the workshops, when the girls and the council employees were confined together,” she explained.
While looking for a new office, GSCGNY had a list of requirements the building needed to meet in order to best accommodate the scouts, volunteers, and council employees who would occupy the building. These requirements included a 20 year lease in a building in a safe location, up to 19,000 square of space for employees to work and for girls and volunteers to meet, easy access to public transportation, and affordable amenities (restaurants, etc.) nearby.
Ellen Wong, a Girl Scout troop leader from Queens, appreciates the council’s concerns for the girls during the move. “It’s in a safe neighborhood for the girls to go to during the week and is accessible to anyone coming from the outer boroughs, and I really appreciate that,” she said.
A leader for girls aged 16 to 18, Wong’s scouts often meet after school, traveling to the the council office by themselves. This causes Wong to worry about the safety of the girls as they travel. “Knowing that they are traveling to a safe neighborhood with multiple routes to get there gives me peace of mind,” she said.
Anyone with questions or concerns about the move were told to contact Charmaine Chung, the Vice President and part of Membership & Volunteer Services, Human Resources and Council Operations, at [email protected] or Murphy-Warrington at [email protected].