RC DIOCESE CHURCH CLOSINGS
CONTRIBUTE TO URBAN BLIGHT

The Diocese of Albany is closing a number of churches and schools
in Albany, Cohoes,Watervliet,Troy and Schenectady this year.
The unintended result of these closings will be increased
neighborhood deterioration and blight.

These closings are shortsighted because population shifts back to
these cities will occur as the economy worsens and oil becomes
too expensive and scarce to support commuting to the suburbs.

Ironically, the Diocese of Albany is a major recipient of
social services monies from the state.

It is imperative for the Mayors and City Councils to enter into
discussions with the Diocese of Albany and New York State
to come up with a plan to keep RC churches and schools in the
above named cities open.

Neighborhoods are made up of people, and houses anchored
by neighborhood churches schools and shops.
Take away neighborhood schools, churches and shops
neighborhood deterioration, blight poverty and crime result.

Arbor Hill and the South End in Albany are two examples.
Both were once thriving neighborhoods with neighborhood
schools, churches and many small shops which provided services
goods and employment for neighborhood residents.

Any urban renewal efforts that fail to include neighborhood schools
churches and shops are doomed to failure.

St Teresa's Church and School in Albany must not be allowed to close.
If the Diocese can't run them, parishioners must
seek out Religious Orders of priests and nuns, who can.

The same goes for similar parish churches and
schools in Troy, Schenectady, Cohoes and Watervliet.
Parishioners must stop behaving like the proverbial sheep
and resist these church and school closings.

Seek alternatives.It may be time to recall priests from
the foreign missions to serve in our urban parishes.
Reach out to Orders and seminaries in the U.S.
Canada and Europe in search of priests and nuns to keep
our local urban parish churches and schools open.

Do this in memory of your ancestors who founded these
churches and schools and do this with recognition that
neighborhood churches and schools are essential to
maintaining neighborhood identity and quality of life.

St Teresa's parish and the 9th Ward can expect that
blight and crime will spill over from the Park South urban
renewal project on lower New Scotland Avenue.
Closing the St Teresa's Church and School would only
intensify this result.

That neighborhood, and
our Buckingham Pond/Crestwood neighborhood
would suffer unwanted deterioration as blight and
crime increase.

It is imperative that residents of both neighborhoods
do not let this occur.

Joe Sullivan