Church Development Group Riles Up Local Residents

The Abyssinian Baptist Church on 138th Street has a distinguished record of prizes and partnerships, but its economic offshoot, the Abyssinian Development Corporation, has elicited tenant disputes—now more than 10 years in the making—that cause some to doubt the company’s fidelity to the community.

The non-profit Abyssinian Development Corporation, which has won awards from the Environmental Protection Agency, has collaborated with Columbia on zoning projects, brought youth programs to the Harlem neighborhood, and launched its Neighborhood Project in 2007 with the aim of developing 200 additional units of housing and over 40,000 square feet of cultural and commercial space. It also plans to construct a school to accommodate 450 students.

As part of its efforts to increase sustainability in the central Harlem area, the ADC has turned to Columbia’s Urban Technical Assistance Project for aid with planning and design, associate professor Lionel McIntyre said.

According to a report e-mailed to Spectator by the ADC, the Neighborhood Project strives to augment “community pride and social cohesion” while giving “hundreds of individuals” a sense of “empowerment.”

“It is through these types of model mixed-use developments that the Abyssinian Development Corporation tackles a myriad of social issues to fully embody the concept of comprehensive community development,” CEO Sheena Wright said in a press release.

Yet while the organization trumpets its mission in the designated area, specifically between West 137th and 139th streets from Adam Clayton Powell to Malcolm X boulevards, tenants say that the residences it manages are neglected.

“While they focus on new developments, they should be as mindful to properties that they aren’t taking care of,” said Lisa Jones, co-president of United Tenants 179-181 135th Street. Jones cited certain problems that she said the ADC, most noticeably the chair of its Board of Directors Reverend Calvin Butts, III, has long ignored.

Jones, who with other united tenants on 135th and 137th streets has battled the ADC in court since 2006, complained of lead violations, flooding from skylights, and issues with rodents. “They make promises that we have yet to see, ... but they haven’t built a relationship with tenants,” she said.

But McIntyre describes the corporation as one of “good, hardworking people” attempting to tackle such social problems as energy crises and climate change with techniques that include energy-efficient housing and open spaces.

Still, a number of community members stress reservations about an organization that, in its attempts to do good for the neighborhood, “has no clue” about the residents who lived there beforehand, said Mary Bland, president of another tenants’ association. Bland said that she has dealt with mice and roofing problems since 1997, and that Butts has withheld information from tenants in multiple buildings and failed to visit frequently.

As a religious leader with strong ties to politicians such as Senator Hillary Clinton, Butts is a “person that people look up to,” Bland said. Some find it difficult, though, to grapple with that perception in light of the way he has treated tenants.

“We don’t want to give negative reviews to our church leaders, but it’s coming to a point where they’re not leaving you any choice,” Jones said. “It’s a pink elephant in the room at church.”

scott.levi@columbiaspectator.com