Controversial pastor files possible last-ditch effort to block $3.7M foreclosure sale in Harlem

The controversial pastor who leads a conservative Christian church located at 36-38 West 123rd Street, in Harlem, Manhattan, filed what may be a last-ditch effort to block the foreclosure sale of that historic brownstone building constructed in 1889, which is home to his Bethelite Community Baptist Church and affiliated entity the Atlah World Missionary Church. The present balance of the judgment is approximately $3.7 million, according to the filing.
However, Pastor James Manning has survived prior efforts over the years as creditors holding government liens sought to collect and failed.
In this latest instance, Manning filed an emergency petition in New York State Supreme Court yesterday, asking a judge to block the foreclosure auction scheduled for tomorrow, December 11, 2024.

Case LINK

The Bank of New York Mellon as lien trustee won a judgment in 2020, and the latest accounting says it is for $2.2 million in government liens. The referee in the case 113197/2009, has an auction scheduled for December 11, 2024, at the New York Country Courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

In March 2022, Manning filed a bankruptcy petition to block a prior sale. The filing succeeded in halting that sale, but that case was dismissed in 2023 after the trustee could not create a viable plan to exit bankruptcy. At the time, an appraisal valued the property in October 2022 at $4 million.

The current petition asserts the church has a loan commitment for $6.9 million from Florida-based Unlimited Funding International. The term sheet says the loan may not exceed a 75% LTV, thus valuing the property at no less than $9.2 million.  The loan purpose is to pay off four liens, New York State Tax, NYC-IRS Tax, NYC Water Board.

Manning filed the chapter 11 bankruptcy petition under the corporate name Bethelite Community Baptist Church Inc., which is the legal owner of the building, which it acquired in 1984 for $300,000 according to a PincusCo analysis of transfer records. The bankruptcy petition is here (22-10374), while the foreclosure case is here (113197/2009).

The 14,372-square-foot, four-and-a-half-story building is at the corner of 123rd Street and Malcom X Boulevard, and sits on a 3,366-square-foot lot. The Harlem Club, a social organization for white men that excluded Blacks, women, and Jews and was built the Romanesque Revival structure in 1889. After  financial difficulties, the building was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1907. It was later home to Father Divine, a charismatic Harlem spiritual leader. It is within the Mount Morris Park Historic District.

Atlah World Missionary Church became known for posting anti-gay and other controversial messages on its signboard, such as “Obama has released the homo demons on the black man.” Two gay rights groups sought to replace the church with a LGBTQ community center in 2016, when the building was under an earlier threat of foreclosure.

The tax lien foreclosure sale is set for April 20. Manning estimates the building to be worth $10 million and the liabilites are far lower. He estimates disputed debts that may have a lien at $3.65 million and those without a lien at $1.2 million.

The public radio station WNYC reported on allegations against the organization, which also runs a school. In 2016, The New York Times reported on Manning’s efforts to fight off an earlier threatened foreclosure.