16 NYC Faith Leaders Demand City Council Act Now To Save Black Homeownership
Photos: Wikimedia Commons New York, NY (May 11, 2026) – A coalition of 16 New York City faith leaders, representing congregations in Brooklyn, Harlem, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, sent an urgent open letter to City Council Speaker Julie Menin calling on her to pass Int 879, the Homeowner Stability Protection Act. The legislation would reform Local Law 18 and restore short-term rental rights for one- and two-family homeowners across the city. The letter comes at a moment of intensifying economic pressure on Black and Brown New Yorkers. Rising foreclosure rates, mounting property tax burdens, and ongoing threats of predatory deed theft are pushing working-class homeowners toward the breaking point. Nearly three years after Local Law 18 was enacted, these families remain blocked from earning supplemental income through short-term rentals on the homes they worked decades to own. The signatories point to a deepening crisis: over 200,000 Black New Yorkers have already been displaced from the city, driven by escalating foreclosure rates, rising property taxes, predatory deed theft, and the inability to generate supplemental income from the homes they’ve worked decades to own. The letter calls the situation not just a policy failure, but exclusion. Citing Speaker Menin’s own declaration at the National Action Network Annual Convention, where she pledged to block a 9.5% property tax increase, calling it “unacceptable” for Black communities, the faith leaders applaud her words while challenging her to match them with action. “Reactive protection is the first step,” they write. “Proactive action is next.” Passing Int 879 would allow homeowners to use their primary asset to stay financially afloat, avoid foreclosure, fund critical home repairs, and preserve generational wealth without making impossible choices. Signatories include: Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey (Bethany Baptist Church, Brooklyn) • Rev. Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardner (Memorial Baptist Church, Harlem) • Rev. Dr. Johnnie Green (Mount Neboh Baptist Church, Harlem) • Rev. Patrick Young (First Baptist Church, Queens) • Rev. James Duckett (Fort Mott Baptist Church, Bronx) • Rev. Dr. Demetrius Carolina (First Central Baptist Church, Staten Island) • Pastor James Clemons (Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater New York and Vicinity) • Rev. Dorian Malloy (Carolina Baptist Church, Bronx) • Rev. Sterling Hawkins (Church of the Meek, Harlem) • Bishop Calvin Rice (New Jerusalem Worship Center, Queens) • Dr. Mullery Jean-Pierre (Beraca Baptist Church, Brooklyn) • and others.
Black News 
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
New York, NY (May 11, 2026) – A coalition of 16 New York City faith leaders, representing congregations in Brooklyn, Harlem, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, sent an urgent open letter to City Council Speaker Julie Menin calling on her to pass Int 879, the Homeowner Stability Protection Act. The legislation would reform Local Law 18 and restore short-term rental rights for one- and two-family homeowners across the city.
The letter comes at a moment of intensifying economic pressure on Black and Brown New Yorkers. Rising foreclosure rates, mounting property tax burdens, and ongoing threats of predatory deed theft are pushing working-class homeowners toward the breaking point. Nearly three years after Local Law 18 was enacted, these families remain blocked from earning supplemental income through short-term rentals on the homes they worked decades to own.
The signatories point to a deepening crisis: over 200,000 Black New Yorkers have already been displaced from the city, driven by escalating foreclosure rates, rising property taxes, predatory deed theft, and the inability to generate supplemental income from the homes they’ve worked decades to own. The letter calls the situation not just a policy failure, but exclusion.
Citing Speaker Menin’s own declaration at the National Action Network Annual Convention, where she pledged to block a 9.5% property tax increase, calling it “unacceptable” for Black communities, the faith leaders applaud her words while challenging her to match them with action. “Reactive protection is the first step,” they write. “Proactive action is next.”
Passing Int 879 would allow homeowners to use their primary asset to stay financially afloat, avoid foreclosure, fund critical home repairs, and preserve generational wealth without making impossible choices.
Signatories include:
Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey (Bethany Baptist Church, Brooklyn) • Rev. Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardner (Memorial Baptist Church, Harlem) • Rev. Dr. Johnnie Green (Mount Neboh Baptist Church, Harlem) • Rev. Patrick Young (First Baptist Church, Queens) • Rev. James Duckett (Fort Mott Baptist Church, Bronx) • Rev. Dr. Demetrius Carolina (First Central Baptist Church, Staten Island) • Pastor James Clemons (Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater New York and Vicinity) • Rev. Dorian Malloy (Carolina Baptist Church, Bronx) • Rev. Sterling Hawkins (Church of the Meek, Harlem) • Bishop Calvin Rice (New Jerusalem Worship Center, Queens) • Dr. Mullery Jean-Pierre (Beraca Baptist Church, Brooklyn) • and others.
