Turn City’s Closed Catholic Churches into Homeless Shelters, Residents Say

A group of Manhattan residents are calling on the Archdiocese of New York to turn the dozens of churches it closed earlier this year into homeless shelters.

Instead of keeping them vacant or selling them for millions, the group — eight friends, most of whom are Catholic — said the Archdiocese should use the churches’ empty rectories, classrooms and convents as emergency and even long-term housing for the homeless.