The New York Military Academy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 3, listing liabilities of nearly $11 million to more than 100 creditors.
The school, on 122 acres at 78 Academy Ave. in Cornwall-on-Hudson, is a college preparatory academy for day and boarding students in grades 8 through 12. Founded in 1889, the school notes Donald Trump, Stephen Sondheim, former New Jersey state Sen. Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. and musician John A. Mandel as alumni.
According to the bankruptcy petition, the academy has about $10.5 million in assets, mostly consisting of the school building and grounds, valued at $10.2 million. Cornwall Improvement LLC, the mortgage holder, has a claim for about $6.6 million in outstanding debt and has started foreclosure proceedings against the academy in state Supreme Court in Orange County.
The petition lists about $10.99 million in liabilities, including $8.1 million in secured claims, nearly $62,000 in unsecured priority claims and about $2.8 million in unsecured nonpriority claims.
Major creditors with nonpriority unsecured claims include two lenders, Advanced Learning Group LLC, which claims $749,000, and The Brunetti Foundation, which claims about $665,000. Both organizations have filed lawsuits against the academy in state Supreme Court in Orange County.
The academy also owes Culinart nearly $235,000 for food service and Corbally Gartland & Rappleyea about $133,000 for legal services. Other creditors include utilities companies, lenders, employees and parents.
The academy has nearly $310,000 in accounts receivable from student fees. According to the petition, $130,000 is due from current students, and the remainder of that is old debt that is “not anticipated to be collected.”
