Brooklyn Pastor Demands NYC-DSA Co-Chair Gustavo Gordillo Resign Over Housing and Union Questions
A prominent Brooklyn pastor is demanding the resignation of a top leader of New York City's Democratic Socialists of America, accusing him of failing to live by the standards his group demands of everyone else.
Rev. Kevin McCall publicly called on NYC-DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo to step down, citing five separate concerns about his housing, unpaid rent and union credentials.
"The Democratic Socialists of America have become the Double Standards of America, demanding transparency, fairness, and accountability from everyone else while ignoring serious questions about one of their own," McCall said.
The Brooklyn Row House
Gordillo, 38, is one of the leaders of the DSA's New York City chapter and reportedly earns a salary of about $95,000.
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His parents bought a nearly 2,000-square-foot row house in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood through an LLC in 2019 for just under $1 million. The New York Post reported the property is now worth about $1.5 million. His parents also reportedly own two homes in Weston and Boca Raton, Florida, worth a combined $6 million.
McCall pointed to allegations that the family converted the Bed-Stuy property from a two-family home into a single-family residence. He argued that shrinks the housing supply in a historically black and brown neighborhood in the middle of an affordability crisis.
He also questioned whether Gordillo had been open about living at the property and whether he had paid rent there.
"The allegations surrounding NYC chapter co-chair Gustavo Gordillo raise troubling questions about whether he misled working-class New Yorkers about where he lived, how he obtained housing, and his labor credentials," McCall said.
Union Credentials in Question
Another issue is Gordillo's public image as a union electrician. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 reportedly removed him from its apprenticeship program in March after he stopped attending for months.
The union also said he never completed the requirements to become a fully credentialed electrician. McCall wants to know whether the renovations on the Brooklyn home used union labor.
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Sued Over Missed Rent
There is also a separate dispute over a Crown Heights apartment Gordillo rented while the townhouse was being renovated. Court filings reportedly show he was sued in housing court over three missed rent payments of $2,500 each.
McCall said that is an uncomfortable contrast for someone who leads an organization focused on housing justice.
"At a time when NYCHA residents are living with mold, leaks, broken elevators, and apartments in desperate need of repair, it is unacceptable for a leader who claims to fight for housing justice to be connected to a luxury renovation that is reducing housing opportunities for Black residents in a historically Black Brooklyn community," he said. "That is not housing justice," he continued. "That is not practicing what you preach."
McCall, who works closely with public housing residents, threatened to organize "days of action" with clergy and NYCHA tenants if the DSA does not respond.
Neither Gordillo nor NYC-DSA responded to the Post's request for comment. The controversy comes as the group has grown its influence in local and national Democratic politics. The eviction case, the apprenticeship dispute and the property records are likely to remain at the center of the fight.