Bishop Orlando Finlayter’s finances in question after being spared a night in jail
Mayor de Blasio’s favorite minister, Orlando Finlayter, has some questionable finances. The bishop, who has been approved to get thousands of dollars, never filed paperwork for either of his organizations.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter with his wife Yvette at his Brooklyn church.
Politicians tried to shower him with hundreds of thousands of dollars — like manna from heaven — but Mayor de Blasio’s favorite minister never filed the paperwork to unlock the golden gates.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter, spared a night in jail earlier this week after Hizzoner called to inquire about his status after a traffic stop, has $214,000 in city and state funds sitting in limbo, the Daily News has learned.
Findlayter, 50, who hobnobs with politicians from City Council members to state senators to President Obama, didn’t pick up the cash. The stalled money is just a piece of the murky financial picture of a man who owns a nearly $600,000 Long Island home, but needed a Legal Aid Society attorney when he answered a pair of outstanding warrants in court on Tuesday.
Through two grants in 2009 and 2010, state Sen. Kevin Parker funneled $105,000 to Findlayter’s New Hope Community Resource Center, state records show.
Bishop Orlando Finlayter with state Sen. Kevin Parker.
Bishop Orlando Finlayter with state Sen. Kevin Parker.
RELATED: DE BLASIO CALLS COP ABOUT BUSTED PAL, THEN MAN IS FREED
The round-faced orator was awarded $4,000 for his New Hope Christian Fellowship Church from City Councilman Mathieu Eugene and $5,000 from former City Councilman Kendall Stewart in 2009. Then, in 2012, one of Findlayter’s groups was gifted with a $100,000 state economic development grant. None of the money was actually dispersed.
Both the state and city require paperwork to be submitted to release funds — taxes, budgets, expense accounts for each nonprofit.
Guidestar, a nonprofit tax tracker, has no record of tax returns from either of Findlayter’s organizations — even though a Dun & Bradstreet report from May 2013 said his community center employed two people and had $230,000 in annual sales. No further details were available.
The exterior of the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church (4615 Church Ave) in Brooklyn, New York.
Desiree Navarro, Freelance, NYDN/Desiree Navarro
The exterior of the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church (4615 Church Ave) in Brooklyn, New York.
He and his wife bought a $579,000 house in Lynbrook in 2007, getting a $434,850 mortgage. Yet his church was booted from Church Ave. in Brooklyn in 2010 after he defaulted on $45,000 in back rent — and he skipped out on a $100,000 court judgment against him on a slip-and-fall in the same building.
RELATED: BISHOP SPRUNG BY DE BLASIO CONNECTED TO OBAMA
There’s no record of what he earns as church pastor. The church website and public records put the membership, who meet in a rented banquet hall on Utica Ave., at between 179 and 350.
His wife, Yvette, 51, works as an IT instructor for St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn, records show. She and her husband didn’t return calls for comment Friday. School officials wouldn’t discuss her salary, but such jobs typically pay between $55,000 and $63,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Bishop Findlayter with his wife (Left) and First Lady Chirlane McCray.
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Bishop Findlayter with his wife (Left) and First Lady Chirlane McCray.
Public records show they bought and sold eight properties in the city and Baltimore over the last decade or so, with some ending up in foreclosure.
Politicians, including de Blasio, made inquiries about Findlayter after he was picked up following a routine traffic stop in East Flatbush around 11:20 p.m. Monday. Cops found the minister had a suspended license due to a lapse in car insurance and took him to the 67th Precinct stationhouse.
RELATED: DE BLASIO: I DID NOT ASK FOR BISHOP TO BE RELEASED
De Blasio called Deputy Chief Kim Royster to inquire about the status of Findlayter — who served on the mayor’s inauguration committee. People with outstanding warrants are generally held until the matter is settled by a judge. The precinct commander let him leave, avoiding a night behind bars.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter owns a nearly $600,000 Long Island home.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter owns a nearly $600,000 Long Island home.
The News learned on Friday that City Councilman Jumaane Williams came to the police station.
“I got a call and I tried to find out what was going on,” said Williams, adding that he wasn’t aware that de Blasio called about the bishop. “This is part of being a councilman. People call me.”
Critics said Findlayter’s release smacked of political favoritism.
RELATED: SIEGEL: DE BLASIO MUST GET USED TO TOUGH QUESTIONS
Bishop Findlayter met President Obama and Vice President Biden.
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Bishop Findlayter met President Obama and Vice President Biden.
“Bill de Blasio should choose his friends more wisely,” said Elio Forcina, attorney for the Brooklyn landlord who once rented to Bishop’s Christian Fellowship Church.
Robert Rizzatti says he lost the building because of Findlayter, who didn’t have insurance when a wandering parishioner fell down a staircase in 2008. The churchgoer got a judgment in 2011 for $100,000. Findlayter stuck Rizzatti with the bill and then bailed on the rent, Forcina said.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate Letitia James — who attended the bishop’s 50th birthday bash last summer — dodged reporters’ questions about Findlayter and his friendship with de Blasio.
“I’d rather just move on,” Mark-Viverito said.
Parker told The News he had no knowledge of Findlayter’s finances and never doubted his integrity.
“Still don’t — him or his organizations,” Parker said. “He is a man who is incredibly committed to his community.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...n-spared-jail-article-1.1615255#ixzz2tPFeSwO4
Mayor de Blasio’s favorite minister, Orlando Finlayter, has some questionable finances. The bishop, who has been approved to get thousands of dollars, never filed paperwork for either of his organizations.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter with his wife Yvette at his Brooklyn church.
Politicians tried to shower him with hundreds of thousands of dollars — like manna from heaven — but Mayor de Blasio’s favorite minister never filed the paperwork to unlock the golden gates.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter, spared a night in jail earlier this week after Hizzoner called to inquire about his status after a traffic stop, has $214,000 in city and state funds sitting in limbo, the Daily News has learned.
Findlayter, 50, who hobnobs with politicians from City Council members to state senators to President Obama, didn’t pick up the cash. The stalled money is just a piece of the murky financial picture of a man who owns a nearly $600,000 Long Island home, but needed a Legal Aid Society attorney when he answered a pair of outstanding warrants in court on Tuesday.
Through two grants in 2009 and 2010, state Sen. Kevin Parker funneled $105,000 to Findlayter’s New Hope Community Resource Center, state records show.
Bishop Orlando Finlayter with state Sen. Kevin Parker.
Bishop Orlando Finlayter with state Sen. Kevin Parker.
RELATED: DE BLASIO CALLS COP ABOUT BUSTED PAL, THEN MAN IS FREED
The round-faced orator was awarded $4,000 for his New Hope Christian Fellowship Church from City Councilman Mathieu Eugene and $5,000 from former City Councilman Kendall Stewart in 2009. Then, in 2012, one of Findlayter’s groups was gifted with a $100,000 state economic development grant. None of the money was actually dispersed.
Both the state and city require paperwork to be submitted to release funds — taxes, budgets, expense accounts for each nonprofit.
Guidestar, a nonprofit tax tracker, has no record of tax returns from either of Findlayter’s organizations — even though a Dun & Bradstreet report from May 2013 said his community center employed two people and had $230,000 in annual sales. No further details were available.
The exterior of the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church (4615 Church Ave) in Brooklyn, New York.
Desiree Navarro, Freelance, NYDN/Desiree Navarro
The exterior of the New Hope Christian Fellowship Church (4615 Church Ave) in Brooklyn, New York.
He and his wife bought a $579,000 house in Lynbrook in 2007, getting a $434,850 mortgage. Yet his church was booted from Church Ave. in Brooklyn in 2010 after he defaulted on $45,000 in back rent — and he skipped out on a $100,000 court judgment against him on a slip-and-fall in the same building.
RELATED: BISHOP SPRUNG BY DE BLASIO CONNECTED TO OBAMA
There’s no record of what he earns as church pastor. The church website and public records put the membership, who meet in a rented banquet hall on Utica Ave., at between 179 and 350.
His wife, Yvette, 51, works as an IT instructor for St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn, records show. She and her husband didn’t return calls for comment Friday. School officials wouldn’t discuss her salary, but such jobs typically pay between $55,000 and $63,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Bishop Findlayter with his wife (Left) and First Lady Chirlane McCray.
Bishop Findlayter with his wife (Left) and First Lady Chirlane McCray.
Public records show they bought and sold eight properties in the city and Baltimore over the last decade or so, with some ending up in foreclosure.
Politicians, including de Blasio, made inquiries about Findlayter after he was picked up following a routine traffic stop in East Flatbush around 11:20 p.m. Monday. Cops found the minister had a suspended license due to a lapse in car insurance and took him to the 67th Precinct stationhouse.
RELATED: DE BLASIO: I DID NOT ASK FOR BISHOP TO BE RELEASED
De Blasio called Deputy Chief Kim Royster to inquire about the status of Findlayter — who served on the mayor’s inauguration committee. People with outstanding warrants are generally held until the matter is settled by a judge. The precinct commander let him leave, avoiding a night behind bars.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter owns a nearly $600,000 Long Island home.
Bishop Orlando Findlayter owns a nearly $600,000 Long Island home.
The News learned on Friday that City Councilman Jumaane Williams came to the police station.
“I got a call and I tried to find out what was going on,” said Williams, adding that he wasn’t aware that de Blasio called about the bishop. “This is part of being a councilman. People call me.”
Critics said Findlayter’s release smacked of political favoritism.
RELATED: SIEGEL: DE BLASIO MUST GET USED TO TOUGH QUESTIONS
Bishop Findlayter met President Obama and Vice President Biden.
Bishop Findlayter met President Obama and Vice President Biden.
“Bill de Blasio should choose his friends more wisely,” said Elio Forcina, attorney for the Brooklyn landlord who once rented to Bishop’s Christian Fellowship Church.
Robert Rizzatti says he lost the building because of Findlayter, who didn’t have insurance when a wandering parishioner fell down a staircase in 2008. The churchgoer got a judgment in 2011 for $100,000. Findlayter stuck Rizzatti with the bill and then bailed on the rent, Forcina said.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate Letitia James — who attended the bishop’s 50th birthday bash last summer — dodged reporters’ questions about Findlayter and his friendship with de Blasio.
“I’d rather just move on,” Mark-Viverito said.
Parker told The News he had no knowledge of Findlayter’s finances and never doubted his integrity.
“Still don’t — him or his organizations,” Parker said. “He is a man who is incredibly committed to his community.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...n-spared-jail-article-1.1615255#ixzz2tPFeSwO4
