{"id":9516,"date":"2024-03-06T15:09:05","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T20:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/?p=9516"},"modified":"2024-03-07T16:06:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T21:06:53","slug":"pef-gathers-elected-leaders-nyc-clergy-for-discussion-about-suny-downstate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/articles\/news\/pef-gathers-elected-leaders-nyc-clergy-for-discussion-about-suny-downstate\/","title":{"rendered":"PEF gathers elected leaders, NYC clergy for discussion about SUNY Downstate"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_9519\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9519\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9519 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ClergyGroup-Web.jpg\" alt=\"Members of the Brooklyn clergy pose for a photograph with PEF leaders and staff at the Desmond Hotel on March 5, 2024, prior to their meeting with the governor\u2019s office.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ClergyGroup-Web.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ClergyGroup-Web-300x145.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ClergyGroup-Web-1024x493.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ClergyGroup-Web-768x370.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9519\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of the Brooklyn clergy pose for a photograph with PEF leaders and staff at the Desmond Hotel on March 5, 2024, prior to their meeting with the governor\u2019s office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9517\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9517\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9517\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/C-Rt.jpg\" alt=\"State Senator Zellnor Myrie, top, and Assemblymember Brian Cunningham, whose legislative districts include SUNY Downstate, were among the attendees of the PEF roundtable.\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/C-Rt.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/C-Rt-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/C-Rt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/C-Rt-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9517\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">State Senator Zellnor Myrie, top, and Assemblymember Brian Cunningham, whose legislative districts include SUNY Downstate, were among the attendees of the PEF roundtable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Following the<a href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-2\/downstate-rally\/\"> multi-union rally at SUNY Downstate on Feb. 29<\/a>, PEF invited faith leaders from Brooklyn and the surrounding area to Albany on March 4 and 5 to talk with legislators and other officials about the importance of saving the state-run hospital in Brooklyn.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Nearly a dozen clergy members participated, sharing the negative responses they\u2019ve heard from their congregations about the proposal and urging lawmakers to keep the pressure on SUNY Central and the governor\u2019s office to rethink the plan. The faith leaders in attendance were: Rev. Dr. Joseph Chukwu (Helping Hands Ministry), Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrick Cohall (Lenox Road Baptist Church), Bishop Orlando Findlayter (New Hope Christian Fellowship), Rev. Dr. Charles Galbreath Alliance Tabernacle), Fayth Henderson (Church of God of East Flatbush), Pastor Edward Hinds (Rugby Deliverance Tabernacle), Pastor James Richmond (Seventh Day Adventist Church), Rev. Dr. Winston Fyne (Beulah Church of the Nazarene), and Rev. Craig Wright (People&#8217;s Institutional AME Church).<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The following concerned legislators attended the roundtable discussion: State Senators<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"> Jabari Brisport,<\/span> <span data-contrast=\"none\">Iwen Chu, Robert Jackson, Zellnor Myrie, Kevin Parker, and Gustavo Rivera, as well as Assemblymembers Rodneyse Bichotte, Brian Cunningham, Chantel Jackson, Phara Souffrant Forrest, Latrice Walker, and Helene Weinstein.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On March 5, the clergy members and PEF staff met with representatives from Gov. Hochul\u2019s office. PEF President Wayne Spence sent the following to the clergy members who participated:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cThank you to everyone who participated in PEF\u2019s roundtable on March 4\u202fbringing together faith leaders and elected State officials to talk about the importance of SUNY Downstate. Those conversations helped us to have an informed conversation with Governor Hochul\u2019s chief of staff and I think we made some real progress. We had a productive two days, but this fight is not over.\u202f<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">We will continue to keep the pressure on SUNY Central and those who have devalued and disrespected Downstate for far too long. This powerful coalition is determined to change that and make sure everyone in New York knows: Brooklyn Needs Downstate! We will continue to work to expand our coalition to educate the community and save Downstate. I hope you would heed any call to action that may come from us to continue the fight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the<a href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-2\/downstate-rally\/\"> multi-union rally at SUNY Downstate on Feb. 29<\/a>, PEF invited faith leaders from Brooklyn and the surrounding area to Albany on March 4 and 5 to talk&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[499,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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