From Harlem To Hempstead African Americans Unite For Inclusion

June 17, 2014

Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York State

Dear Governor Cuomo:

Mobilizing Preachers & Communities (MPAC) is writing you today to express our deep concern about how the SUNY Board and its chairman, H. Carl McCall, have managed the sale of Long Island College Hospital (LICH). MPAC is an advocacy and grassroots organization that represents over 250 churches in the New York metropolitan area and across the state of New York.

MPAC is deeply troubled and bitterly disappointed about how the RFP process has been handled in the matter of LICH. The recent selection of Fortis by the SUNY Board confirms our suspicions that this process was not intended to be fair and even handed from the start. Even more disturbing to our member churches and congregants is how two very experienced and seasoned minority companies who finished far ahead of Fortis in the scoring process were disqualified by the board (Brooklyn Health Partners and The Peebles Corporation). How is it that a major development project of this size and caliber that will profoundly affect the health and well being of the largest county in the state of New York, whose population is over 80% minority, does not have a minority developer who has been approved to negotiate with the SUNY Board? As difficult as this is to write to you, we need you to know, Governor, that the appearance of impropriety is now perceived in our community.

In addition, what is also deeply troubling to us is the fact that the SUNY Board has chosen a developer who is not committed to building and maintaining a full service hospital in Brooklyn. This is a devastating development for our community. Universally our congregants and supporters have insisted that no matter what development group is awarded the LICH contract, it must be 100% committed to maintaining and managing a full service health care facility so the continuity of care is protected in our neighborhoods. Fortis does not intend to meet this vital threshold for the project.

We hope that you are either unaware or do not endorse the positions of the SUNY Board as it relates to the selection of Fortis. It is our hope that you will intervene with the Board of Trustees at SUNY in order to prevent the final selection of Fortis. We also ask you today to meet as soon as possible with MPAC pastors and clergy from across the region and the state in order to help develop a plan to resolve this issue.

Your leadership, Governor Cuomo, is needed now more than ever. It is our hope that you will be sensitive to our concerns, particularly with regards to the vital need we have for a full service hospital, minority participation in future development of LICH and job security for those who have now become unemployed as a result of this hospital closing.

We look forward to your favorable response.

Sincerely,

Dr. Rev. Johnnie M. Green

President/CEO of MPAC

MPAC SUPPORTERS:

Patrick Young

First Baptist Church*

East Elmhurst, New York

Johnnie Ray Youngblood

Mount Pisgah Baptist* Brooklyn, New York

Carl L. Washington

New Mount Zion Baptist Church*

Harlem, New York

Edward Mulraine

Unity Baptist Tabernacle* Mount Vernon, New York

Dequincy Hintz

Shiloh Baptist Church*

New Rochelle, New York

Lawrence Aker III

Cornerstone Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York

Sean P. Gardner

East Ward Missionary Baptist Church*

Harlem, New York

Renee F. Washington

Gardner Memorial Baptist Church*

Harlem, New York

Fredrick Crawford

Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church*

Bronx, New York

Lisa D. Jenkins,

St. Matthews Baptist Church*

Harlem, New York

Bishop Mitchell Taylor

Center of Hope International Church*

Long Island City, New York

Ben Gibson

Progressive Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York

Earl Jones

First Calvary Baptist Church* Brooklyn, New York

Chad Foster

Calvary Baptist Church*

Buffalo, New York

Rickey Harvey

Mount Olivet Baptist Church*

Rochester, New York

Johnnie G. McCann

St Luke Baptist Church*

New York, New York

Kris F. Erskine

Bethany Baptist Church*

New York, New York

James Hassel

Kingdom Christian Cultural Church*

Yonkers, New York

John Gilmore

New Hope Institutional Baptist Church*

Tarrytown, New York

Nelson Dukes

Fountain Spring Baptist Church*

Bronx, New York

Norman Coleman

Burke Avenue Baptist Church* Bronx, New York

Herman Washington

Shiloh Baptist Church* Rockville Centre, New York

Bishop Melvin Reid

Bethany Baptist Church*

Queens, New York

Craig Scott Brown

Bethany Baptist Church*

Jamaica, New York

Jeffrey Crenshaw

Greater Tabernacle Baptist Church*

New York, New York

John Davis

First Baptist Church*

New York, New York

Keith Bolden

First Calvary Baptist Church*

New York, New York

Kevin Quarles

WhosoEver Will Ministries* New York, New York

Pat Morrison

Springfield Baptist Church* Harlem, New York

Isaac Graham

Macedonia Baptist Church*

New York, New York

Keith Robertson

Southern Baptist Church*

Queens, New York

Sandra Baker

Ossining Baptist Church*

Ossining, New York

Alan Paul Weaver

Bethesda Baptist Church*

New Rochelle, New York

Elgin Taylor

Sweet Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church*

Albany, New York

Byron Williams

Baptist Temple Church of Newburgh*

Newburgh, New York

Grady Zellar

Greater Bright Light Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York

Marty Parker

Alpha Baptist Church*

East Elmhurst, New York

Dr. Donald Butler

Community Baptist Church*

Hempstead, New York

Bishop Eric D. Garnes Tabernacle of Praise Cathedral*

Brooklyn, New York

Paulette Zimmerman

Mount Zion Baptist Church*

Queens, New York
Sheldon Ferguson

Mount Olivet Gospel Church*

Corona, New York
Reggie Bachus

Mount Ollie Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York
Joe Albert Bush

Walker Memorial Baptist* Church

Bronx, New York
Sedgwick Easley

Union Baptist Church*

Hempstead, New York
Daryl Frazier

Majorty Baptist Church*

St Albans, New York
Steve Carter

Mount Ararat Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York
Craig Gaddy

Friendship Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York

Evan Gray

Macedonia Baptist Church*

Far Rockaway, New York
Walter Hutton

Southern Baptist Church*

Elmhurst, New York
Gilbert Pickett

Mount Horeb Baptist Church*

Corona, New York
Robert Burkett

New Hope Baptist Church* Queens, New York
Craig Brown

Friendship Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York
Darrien Ferguson

Mount Carmel Baptist*

Far Rockaway, New York

Duane Sleet

First Baptist Church*

Far Rockaway, New York
Eddie Norman

Salem United Methodist Church*

Harlem, New York
Robert Linden

Bethelite Institutional Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York
Victor Hall

Calvary Baptist Church*

Jamaica, New York

James L. Cherry, Sr

Aenon Missionary Baptist Church*

Rochester, New York

Lemuel Mobley

Living Stone Baptist Church* Brooklyn, New York
Calvin Rice

New Jerusalem Baptist Church*

Jamaica, New York
Vernon Shelton

Trinity Baptist Church*

Amityville, New York
Patricia Rickenbacker

Living Hope Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church*

Massapequa, New York

Keith Roberson

Southern Baptist Church*

New York, New York
Kimberly Detheridge

St Marks AME Church* Queens, New York
Marvin Bentle

Antioch Baptist Church*

Queens, New York
William Gillison

Mount Olive Baptist Church*

Buffalo, New York

Wilbur Ingram

Greater Beginnings Ministries*

Queens, New York
Jeffrey Thompson

Amity Baptist Church*

Queens, New York

Connis Mobley

United Community Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York
J. D. Williams

St. Johns Baptist Church*

Far Rockaway, New York
Rita Story

First Baptist Church*

East Elmhurst, New York

Victor Gunter

First Baptist Church*

East Elmhurst, New York
Hezekiah Wright

First Baptist Church*

East Elmhurst, New York
Willie Daniels

Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church*

Albany, New York

Karl Delk

New Frontier Baptist Church*

Brooklyn, New York

*Churches and organizations listed are for identification purposes only.

About MPAC:

Mobilizing Preachers and Communities (MPAC), is a non-profit coalition consisting of more than 250 interdenominational churches formed to address issues that impact our communities. Our partnership also includes social, civic, political and corporate organizations, philanthropists, as well as concerned individuals, that target, but are not limited to, the issues of stop and frisk, low-income housing, gentrification, domestic violence, education and economic development. 

For most of our 400-year history in the Diaspora, the authentic black church has been the center of our life.  The black church sustained us through 400 years of slavery and 100 years of apartheid and it is now poised to lead us through the 21st century.

MPAC intends to use the moral authority earned by the great pastors that came before us, and the strength and solidarity of its expansive congregations within the tri-state area to create a new paradigm of social, political and economic action to impact on improving the lives of our congregants and the citizens of the greater New York City and vicinity. 

The global emphasis of MPAC is foundational in relationships that span across the United States and around the world.