Housing and social services arm of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church cut off from $3.1M in city contracts due to overdue tax filings
Abyssinian Development Corp., the sprawling housing and social service arm of Harlem’s most influential black church, was cut off from $3.1 million in city contracts two weeks ago after it failed to submit three years of overdue tax filings and independent 
audits to the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, the Daily News has learned.
The Rev. Calvin Butts, founder and board chairman of the development group and longtime pastor of its parent organization, Abyssinian Baptist Church, acknowledged to The News that his group hasn’t filed required financial reports since 2011 and conceded the de Blasio administration was justified in requesting those reports.
But the development group, Butts revealed, is in such dire financial condition that “we didn’t have money to pay for the audits until recently. We’ve even missed a few payrolls for our staff and have had to lay off employees.”
The suspension of city funds, he warned, may lead to the “imminent” shut down of programs for the homeless and senior citizens, he said.
“We have expressed to Mr. Butts on multiple occasions that we cannot provide city funding until their organization complies with the most basic legal requirements to receive public money,” de Blasio spokesman Peter Kadushin said in a statement. Abyssinian Development’s financial crisis, Butts claimed, stems from several factors:
“We had some bad leadership,” he said. “We spent money on some things we didn’t need to spend money on, and we made some bad decisions.”
The city’s actions and Butts’ admission of poor management will surprise many in this town, given the enormous impact Abyssinian Development has wielded in Harlem for 25 years, and given the stature of Butts himself, who also serves as the $200,000-a-year president of the State University at Old Westbury.
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By Juan Gonzalez | September 30, 2015