NEW YORK – Former New York Mayor David Dinkins is considering taking over the cash-strapped Harlem Boys Choir, now hobbling without a staff and facing eviction by the city.
Dinkins said he wants to help the fabled organization get out of its fiscal mess, perhaps becoming its interim board chairman.
“I truly do love children,” said Dinkins, flanked by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., other elected officials and members of the choir in front of City Hall.
“The cause is right. I just got to find, got to convince myself that I’ve got the time to give it and make it a success.”
Rangel, who represents Harlem, appealed to the public for donations to keep afloat the choir, which has a $5 million debt.
He also called on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to let the group stay for free at the Choir Academy of Harlem, a public school at 2005 Madison Ave.
The chorus recently got an eviction notice from the city with an offer to operate only as an after-school program in the building.
“(It costs) $100,000 a year to keep a kid on Rikers Island, and all we’re asking for is Mr. Mayor, can you spare a dime?” Rangel said.
“Keep these kids going.”
After the news conference, Rangel met privately with Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, who said the city isn’t budging.
The 30-year-old choir has been mired in fiscal problems for years.
And the organization did not act on a 2004 agreement with the city to find a new chief executive, Walcott said.
The city made the request after an investigation revealed that founder Walter Turnbull ignored reports that an employee was sexually abusing a student.
“The reality is they do not have any program staff, they do not have any services and we cannot operate in a stop-gap manner,” Walcott said.
“The city has a responsibility to the community of Harlem,” he added. “The school does not want the organization headquartered there anymore.”
Turnbull declined to comment at Friday’s news conference. But he led the choir in a rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”
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