Priest strives to protect future of neighborhood

The vocal pastor is advocating for those who would lose 130 homes under a plan to bring industry to 25 acres of the Central State Street neighborhood.

Father Isopo has attended numerous City Council meetings and public information sessions on the project; he also has met with attorneys from Albany and with the American Civil Liberties Union in hopes of filing a lawsuit to stop the action on behalf the Central State Street Neighborhood Association and the Central State Street Ecumenical Cluster.

Part of vocation

"This is part of our ministry: to be the voice for the voiceless and to be the advocate for people who are not able to speak for themselves," he told The Evangelist. "Once I realized that the city is moving too fast on this and not paying attention to the rights of the neighbors, I dug in and got involved."

Father Isopo, who has been pastor of St. Luke's for four years, first got involved early last year, when the City Council proposed development of an industrial park in an area bordered by Albany Street, Brandywine Avenue, Duane Avenue and Bigelow Avenue. One reason he became active is because St. Luke's School is on Albany Street, the edge of where the development would take place. He also wanted to be "an advocate for the neighborhood" because that area includes residents who live within the parish boundaries of St. Luke's.

Getting active

Public meetings were held at the school and led to the formation of a committee of residents that began meeting with city officials to discuss the project.

Although nothing much had happened with the proposal since last June, the City Council voted earlier this month to change the zoning in the area from residential to industrial because a company apparently wanted to move there right away. Father Isopo was very surprised by the decision because the City Council members had been so open about the project until then, and he worried about the compensation and relocation of residents.

The City Council "had promised us they would not change the zoning until they had secured financing, and met with each resident and discussed what they needed in terms of compensation for their house and what type of relocation package they would offer," he said.

Who benefits?

"It's questionable whether this is really beneficial to the whole city, because for the next 16 years, the rest of the community is going to have to pay the taxes," he said.

Father Isopo spoke before the City Council at its meeting earlier this month and has become an unofficial spokesman for parishioners and residents regarding the project. He's heard complaints from concerned neighbors who are afraid they will lose their homes, receive less money than the homes are worth and have nowhere to go.

Collar power

"I think there is more clout when any priest stands up and speaks out for people who are in need," he said. "Many of [the city officials] respect me enough to know that, if I'm involved, it's important. This really is responding to social action. I don't see this as a political thing. I consider this part of my ministry."

A former chairman of the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission who is currently a member of the Schenectady City Ethics Board and the county Ethics Board, Father Isopo has addressed the proposed industrial park in his homilies to parishioners.

"I've been mentioning it in terms of welcoming the stranger," he said, pointing out that misunderstanding can lead to Schenectady's conflict or, in worse cases, the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

In the loop

"In many ways, I think I'm in the loop. When you're ministering in the city you were born in, you know all these people; you know their backgrounds," he said.

A lawsuit is expected to be filed soon to stop the action taken by City Council members, and Father Isopo hopes this maneuver will make them think twice.

"Hopefully, the city will be threatened enough by this lawsuit because it's going to cause them some bad publicity," he said. "We're just against the way the city is doing it and running roughshod over these people's lives."

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