NYC council endorses church rentals

NYC council endorses church rentals

NEW YORK — The New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on the state Legislature to allow houses of worship to rent from public schools. 

The vote tally was 38–11, with council speaker Christine Quinn — the top Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, who will control education policy if elected — voting against it. It passed May 22. 

“We had a huge, huge victory today,” said Bill Devlin, who with council member Fernando Cabrera (D-Bronx) has headed up a group of pastors pushing for churches’ equal access to public buildings.  

The New York City Board of Education’s policy forbids houses of worship from renting public schools but allows any other nonprofit to rent the space. Recently a federal judge placed an injunction on the policy, so houses of worship can rent from public schools, for now. The city has appealed the decision to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard arguments in November 2012 and could issue a decision any day. At least 40 churches in the city rent spaces from public schools. 

The nonbinding council resolution now heads to New York’s Legislature. Last year the state Senate approved legislation allowing churches to rent from public schools, but the bill died in the state Assembly after assembly speaker Sheldon Silver refused to bring it to a vote. 

“The resolution is more than symbolic,” wrote lawyer Jordan Lorence in an email. Lorence is handling the case against the city’s policy in court for Alliance Defending Freedom. “The passage of a resolution urging enactment of specific legislation is the formal way the NYC Council makes its will known to state lawmakers.” 

The city’s board of education has said that “impressionable” children might be confused if they saw a religious service happening at their school. Council members who spoke up against the resolution said it violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.