West-Park Presbyterian Church in New York, New York, sues arts tenant over lease

The congregation that owns West-Park Presbyterian Church, on the corner of West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, has filed a lawsuit against the Center at West Park, a nonprofit arts group and the building’s lone tenant. The congregation is small and shrinking, and the suit adds to a dispute over the future of the historic landmark.

Legal paperwork filed on August 15 states the congregation’s intent to nullify the Center’s existing lease, which was signed more than four years ago, so that the group can be evicted “immediately.” A church spokesperson told the West Side Spirit by email that the Center would not be forced to vacate before the end of the year, since “litigation will take months.” In February, the Center invoked a “renewal option” in the lease, seeking to stay in the building for another five years.

Marsha Flowers, who is part of the congregation and was a founding member of the Center’s board, said in a written statement to the Spirit that “our small congregation is made up of people with modest means trying to be responsible stewards of this building in a way that supports our mission-driven work.” She said that “for more than two decades, the Church has spent every penny it has and worked as hard as we can to maintain the building.”

The congregation is pursuing a “hardship application” with the Landmarks Preservation Commission that would remove the building’s protected status so it can be sold to a developer. The prospective buyer, Alchemy Properties, has presented plans to demolish the church and build a high-rise apartment building on the site.

Legal paperwork filed on the congregation’s behalf describes the Center’s starting monthly rent of $2,200 as “negligible.” It states that the Center was expected to “raise funds towards restoration and take steps towards restoring” the church, including its facade, which the filing describes as being in poor shape. Accountability for the building’s upkeep, the filing suggests, was part of the original arrangement (Luke 12:48). The paperwork says the lease is void in part because the congregation could not extend the agreement beyond five years “in the absence of obtaining prior leave from the Court or Attorney General,” and because it did not have written approval from the affiliated Presbytery when it signed the lease, under New York Religious Corporations Law.

A copy of the lease, provided to the Spirit by the Center’s attorney, Michael Hiller, states that each party had “full power and authority to enter into this agreement.” It also says the Center would “retain its lease of the premises” if the congregation sold the church to another party. Hiller said the congregation has continued to accept the Center’s monthly rent payments through August.

According to Hiller, the congregation launched its suit after the Landmarks Preservation Commission said the lease presented an “issue” for the hardship application. He said the legal battle “has nothing to do with the issues that they’re raising in the lawsuit; it has everything to do with their desire to get Landmarks’ approval to destroy the building so that they can reap an economic windfall of $33 million to benefit a congregation of approximately ten people.” A church spokesperson attributed the timing of the suit, filed now rather than when the Center first expressed interest in renewing its lease, to the “time-consuming” nature of litigation.

Source: Read the original report