An order of nuns abruptly shuttered a domestic violence shelter in Hells Kitchen and are pestering more than a dozen abused and homeless women to leave, according to court papers.
The western New York Franciscan Sisters of Allegany stopped paying employees, shut off the phones, cable, and Internet, seized more than $500,000 in funds, and dissolved the board of the nonprofit The Dwelling Place on West 40th Street this month, legal filings claim.
“The Franciscan Sisters are callous and cruel,” one resident said in a Manhattan Supreme Court filing trying to stop the closure. “Me and the other women . . .have been addressed through letters telling us to ‘get out, find yourself somewhere to live in the NYC shelter system.’ “
The drama began in June, when the nuns suddenly fired executive director Deborah Pollock, claiming after more than two years in the position they had just learned of her criminal past, they said in the litigation.
Pollock pleaded guilty to stealing more than $300,000 in a welfare fraud scheme in 2001.
She was sentenced to community service and to pay $100,000 restitution.
The sisters feared she “was mismanaging the finances of the Dwelling Place” when they canned her, they said in the legal filing, without detailing the alleged wrongdoing.
“The Sisters are not playing games,” a lawyer for the nuns wrote in court documents. “Nuns who have dedicated their entire lives to helping the poor and the downtrodden deserve more respect and credibility than a convicted criminal.”
But instead of simply replacing Pollock, the nuns “set on a path to close the shelter, kick out its residents, and seize all of the assets,” according to a lawsuit filed by a resident, City Councilman Erik Bottcher, and The Dwelling Place.
The nonprofit insists it’s been financially independent of the nuns for years and that the Franciscan Sisters have no authority to dismantle it.
The Dwelling Place began in 1977, when the nuns saw homeless women “eating out of their garbage bins” and got permission from the Archdiocese of New York to open a shelter. The facility also includes a food pantry and offers hot meals once a week to nearby residents.
The nuns insisted they are not evicting the shelter’s residents but directed them to contact the Archdiocese and Catholic Charities.
Pollock, who is now living in the building without permission, “interfered” with their ability to run the shelter, the nuns claimed.
“We’re not in court to save [Pollock’s] job,” said attorney Arthur Schwartz, who is representing the resident, Bottcher, and the nonprofit. “It’s to save the shelter.”
In a statement, the nuns said “financial questions,” including unpaid bills, led them to investigate Pollock and that her actions forced the shutdown.
“The Sisters care deeply about the women still residing in the building but when trying to help find new homes for them they were blocked at every turn by Ms. Pollock and rogue employees,” the nuns said, noting they do not own the building. “Besides the safety of the women, the main concern of the Sisters is to ensure that Ms. Pollock cannot pull a scheme on anyone else.”