City Strips ‘Rat-Infested’ Greene Avenue Church of its Tax Exemption

The city has stripped a notorious Greene Avenue church of its tax-exempt status — a bureaucratic move could lead to the building’s seizure after six years of complaints about the rat-infested, apparently abandoned property.

Officials at the Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, a decrepit wreck near the corner of Fulton Street, failed to reapply for the no-tax benefit this fall — and if the inactive church fails behind on its new $14,355 annual tax payments, the city can foreclose.

Frustrated neighbors hope that this signals the beginning of the end.

“This has been going on for more than five years and it’s ruined my business,” said Kay Lee, who owns One Greene, the 11-year-old sushi restaurant next door to the Zion church.

Ms. Lee estimated that she spent $20,000 to renovate her basement to block rats and other vermin that can be heard scratching at the walls of her restaurant.

The history of 5 Greene Avenue is filled with mystery, frustration and city ineptitude.

According to city records, the church took possession of the building in 2005 and almost immediately planned a major renovation. But those repairs did not happen. Instead, a construction scaffolding went up — and the rats took over the property.

“It’s just so irresponsible,” said Phillip Kellogg, manager of the Fulton Area Business Alliance. “From a spiritual standpoint, the congregation should realize how irresponsible it’s being.”

Tyler Kord, the chef and owner of No. 7, a stylish restaurant and bar next door to the abandoned church, added that he offered to do a fundraiser for the congregation and has helped find a buyer for the building.

“But they had no interest,” said Mr. Kord. “We did not wish them any ill, but they’re just not the greatest neighbors.”

Indeed, the building was hit with four violations for hazardous conditions last year alone, and the church owes $58,233 for 13 outstanding violations dating back to the middle of the last decade.

But the city did not act. A spokesman for the Department of Finance admitted that the agency did not review tax-exempt status for various institutions between 2007 and last summer, when it finally required non-profit groups and houses of worship to reapply for their exemptions.

A lawyer for the Zion church told The Local that the congregation was not aware that it had missed the deadline, and that the church would refile.

“The building is incorporated as a church, so there is no issue about whether it is a church,” said the lawyer, Warren Bennia. “So now the city is talking about imposing a tax on a church for allegedly failing to respond to a piece of paper. The city should not be in the business of stripping churches of their tax-exempt status if they are providing a place of worship.”

The city agrees with the first part, but not necessarily the second. A spokesman for the Department of Finance said that an inspector would likely visit the church building to determine if Zion is truly providing a “place of worship,” as Mr. Bennia called it.

“We are not in the business of stripping any property of its tax-exempt status,” said Owen Stone, the agency spokesman. “But our job is to make sure properties are in compliance with the rules” and verify that “the building is being used as a church.”

Even the pastor of Zion AME suggested that the building would not meet that standard.

“I have been the pastor for five years, and I’ve never even been in the building,” said the Rev. Patricia Phillips. “How do you think I feel, being a pastor and not having a church building?”

Gersh Kuntzman joined The Local in January, 2012 after stints as a reporter at The New York Post and editor of The Brooklyn Paper. Follow him on Twitter @gershkuntzman.

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City Strips ‘Rat-Infested’ Greene Avenue Church of its Tax Exemption