Coalition of faith leaders calls for New York City to retain control of NYCHA

With HUD signaling an interest in receivership, a coalition of more than 90 faith leaders/faith institutions from across NYC, co-led by FPWA, Majlis Ash-Shura: Islamic Leadership Council of New York, The Riverside Church in the City of New York, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, and United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, is calling for New York City to retain control of NYCHA. There’s much more to be done at NYCHA, but we need investment that builds on recent progress, not federal control. Receivership has resulted in the loss of thousands of public housing units across the country, and we want to ensure the thousands of our parishioners who live in NYCHA developments are able to stay in their homes.

Full letter:

December 13, 2018

The Honorable Dr. Ben Carson
Secretary
U.S. Department of Housing and urban Development
451 7th Street S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20410

Dear Secretary Carson and HUD Administrators,

We are clergy members and leaders of communities of faith, with thousands of parishioners who live in NYCHA developments across the city. For the health and safety of all NYCHA residents, we believe that the City of New York must retain control of NYCHA – and that federal receivership would be harmful for the agency and for NYCHA’s more than 400,000 residents.

Since Mayor de Blasio took office, and especially over the past year, conditions at NYCHA have slowly but definitely improved. Thanks to an unprecedented $2.1-billion capital and $1.6-billion operational investment, the City is replacing roofs, fixing heat, and upgrading security. Further, the recent announcement that more than 62,000 units would come under professional, private management demonstrates the administration’s continued commitment to innovative approaches that substantively improve the lives of thousands of people.

Receivership could destroy this fragile progress. We know what happens when the federal government takes over local public housing authorities. In Gary, Indiana; Cairo, Illinois; Wellston Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois, federal receivership all ended the same way: large public housing developments were shuttered and hundreds, sometimes thousands, of residents were displaced. Even with Section 8 assistance, families are priced out of their hometowns.

In the rare instances when residents have gotten to stay in place, receivership has left them living under worsened conditions. For example, 30 years of receivership left the public housing of East St. Louis, Illinois with $180 million of capital needs – and no money to fund them.

One in 14 New Yorkers make their homes in NYCHA. They are our parishioners, our families, our teachers, our nurses, our police officers. They’re our community. And in human terms, receivership means we are turning our backs on these families.

It’s no secret that NYCHA is a troubled agency, plagued by decades of disinvestment and mismanagement across all levels. It will take many more years of cooperation and commitment across all levels of government to reverse the situation. Receivership is not only a threat to these improvements – it’s a threat to the existence of NYCHA itself.

FULL LIST OF SIGNATORIES

Rev. Gilford Monrose, 67th Precinct Clergy Council (“The God Squad”)

Imam Tahir Kukiqi, Albanian Islamic Cultural Center

Rev. Karyn Carlo, Ph.D., American Baptist Church

Assafa Islamic Center Inc.

Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid, Association of African American Imams & The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood Inc

Baitul Jamaat House of Community Inc.

Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis USA

Rev. Jerome Herold, Bethel Christian Church

Rev. James Osei-Kofi, Bethesda Healing Center

Agrimario Leite, Rev. Paulo C. Marciano, Brazilian Missionary Church

Rev. Evelyn Castellano, Breaking Free Ministries

Rev. Que English, Bronx Christian Fellowship Church

Rev. James C. Sheehan, Catholic Archdiocese of New York

Rev. Dr. Alfred Johnson, Retired Bishop of the United Methodist Church, Center for the Study and Practice of Urban Religion (C-SPUR), New York Theological Seminary

Bishop Kareem Evans Sr., Charity Neighborhood Cathedral

Rev. Dr. Lula Mae Phillips, Senior Pastor, Christian Calvary Ministries, Inc.

Rev. Edwin T. Chinery, Rev. Posey Krakowsky, Rev. Elizabeth G. Maxwell, Church of the Ascension

Rev. Regina Williams, Church of the First Born Ministries, Inc./Sacred Heart Church

Rabbi Marisa James, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah

Rev. Dr. Sally N. MacNichol, Connect NYC

Rev. Eugenia Simpson, Convent Avenue Family Living Center

Dawud Mosque

Rev. Lana Green Hunt, Deliverance and Healing International Ministries, Inc.

Rabbi Josh Stanton, East End Temple

Rev. Clyde Kuemmerle, Ph.D., Ecclesia Ministries of New York

Rev. Morais Quissico, Epworth United Methodist Church

Jennifer Jones Austin, (FPWA) Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies

Rev. Tina Booker, Full of Faith Christian Center

Rev. Oral Thomas, Fulton Street Church of God of Prophecy

Hon. Dr. Allen Mcquire, Global Bible Ministries

Rev. Herbert Ward, Gospel House Ministries

Rev. Dr. Nigel Pearce, Grace Congregational Church

Rev. Sean Johnson, Grace Worship Center Church of God of Prophecy

Rev. Barnett Robinson, Grand Concourse SDA

Rev. LeTonya Bagley, Greater Faith Deliverance Church

Rabbi Michael Feinberg, Greater New York Labor Religion Coalition

Rev. Buckman, Hollis Avenue Congregational Church

Minister Donal Cogdell, Hope Church Astoria

Rev. Herbert Daughtry, House of the Lord Pentecostal Church

Marc Greenberg, Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing Inc.

Rev. Dr. Chloe Breyer, Hanadi Doleh, Interfaith Center of New York

Islamic Circle of North America

Chaplain Abeda Khanam, Jamaica Muslim Center

Rev. Ebenezer Aduku, John Wesley United Methodist Church

Rev. Cheryl Anthony, Judah International Christian Church

Cantor Lisa B. Segal, Kolot Chayeinu

Rev. Adam Durso, Lead.NYC

Imam Souleimane Konate, Masjid Aqsa Salam

Rev. Joel A. Gibson, The Micah Institute

President John Mudd, Midtown South Community Council

Rev. Joseph Jones, Mount Hermon Baptist Church

Muslim American Society of New York

Deacon Ricardo Shark, National Action Network – Bronx Chapter

Rev. Jonathan Williams, New Creation Ministries Inc.

Rev. Dr. Anthony M. Graham, New Hope Family Worship Center

Rev. Kevin Brown, New Life Seventh-day Adventist Church

Tariqur Rahman, New York Muslims United for Civic Engagement (NYMUCE)

Chaplain Lesline Banks, Chaplain Doreen Lesane, New York State Chaplain Task Force

Rev. Peter Cook, NYS Council of Churches

Rev. Dr. Vernice Robinson, Parsons Temple

Dr. Ahmet M. Atlig, Peace Islands Institute

Rev. Stephen H. Phelps, Presbytery of New York City

Rev. Karen Jackson, Project Hospitality

Rev. Michael Carrion, Promise Land Covenant Church

Rev. Onleilove Alston, Prophetic Whirlwind

Rev. Sue Webley-Cox, Rivers of Living Water

Rev. Dr. Lynn R. Sexton, Sacred Fellowship Ministries

Rev. Robert H. Williams D.D., Sacred Heart

Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus

Father Adam Spencer, Saint Thomas Church

James Thornton, Salem Missionary Baptist Church

Rev. Marvin Moss, Salem United Methodist Church

Rev. James Richmond, SDA Church Organization

Rev. Hugo Nonroy, Second Christian Church

Abdus Salaam Musa, South East Queens Muslim Collective

Rev. Allan Jackson, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Harlem

Rev. Dr. Mary Foulke, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Harlem

Rev. Dr. K. Barrett-Layne, PhD., Staten Island Council of Churches

Rev. Gwen Dingle, The Pentecostal House of Prayer

Rev. Dr. Amy Butler, The Riverside Church in the City of New York

Rev. Serge Jean, Triumph the Church of the New Age

Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC)

Frederick A. Davie, M.Div., Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

Rabbi David Niederman, United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn

United Ulama Council of USA Inc.

Rev. Summers, Upper Room Tabernacle of Deliverance Pentecostal Church

Assetou Sy Traore, USA Mali Charitable Association of NYC

Rev. Robert Brashear, Pastor Emeritus, West Park Presbyterian Church

Rev. Elizabeth C Abel, Woodycrest United Methodist Church

Rev. Daniel Archbold, Zion Youth and Family Community Center of Elmont

Cantor Alan Brava,

Minister Kirsten John Foy

Rev. Bancroft Daughma

Rabbi Diana Gerson

Rev. Allison Moore, Ph.D.

Rev. Timothy L Morehouse,

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik

Rev. Dr. Rosalie Richards