‘News from Masonic Hall’

     
With the resumption of Masonic labors after a (particularly glorious) summer refreshment, news of some changes at Masonic Hall, the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of New York, is getting around.

Courtesy GLNY

First, the air conditioning! As reported here last year, the scheme to bring central air conditioning to our 100+ year-old home has been tackled. When you have serious trustees who are supported by the Grand Lodge, big jobs get done. This doesn’t happen everywhere, believe me.

“We have started up the air conditioning for the 11 lodge rooms, including the collation rooms on the eighth and tenth floors today,” said Bro. Paul Reitz, Trustee of the Masonic Hall and Home. “I am sure we will have some minor kinks in the system, but we are pleased that the air handling units are very quiet. You can hardly feel the air-flow, and we have matched, as closely as possible, the diffusers to the colors in the lodge rooms.”

Facts we need to know:

• The chiller is clock-operated. It will be turned on weekdays at 5 p.m., and Saturdays at two o’clock.
• The lodge rooms and the dining rooms will have their cooling settings turned on by building staff at 5:30, and they will remain set for six hours.
• Do not touch the thermostats. The people who know how they work have set them for us already. And don’t touch the controls in the locker rooms either.

Bro. Reitz will make sure the complete rules of operation are posted in the lodge rooms and locker rooms.

Thank you, Trustees!

At the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library, new hours of operation have been announced:

Monday through Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

No evening hours. No weekend or holiday hours.

Inquiries: 212.337.6620.