{"id":1022019,"date":"2026-08-25T00:06:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T00:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1022019\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T00:06:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T00:06:01","slug":"harlem-nonprofit-whdcs-board-blasted-over-incompetence-and-squandered-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1022019\/","title":{"rendered":"Harlem nonprofit WHDC’s board blasted over incompetence and squandered millions"},"content":{"rendered":"

An embattled Harlem nonprofit accused of squandering tens of millions<\/a> meant for the area\u2019s regeneration is hobbled by its feckless board, sources tell The Post.<\/p>\n

Frustrated with the West Harlem Development Corporation\u2019s (WHDC) failure to capitalize on its near $100 million endowment from Columbia University, sources blame the long-procrastinating board, who have failed to make any significant investments to benefit the community.<\/p>\n

The fund has dwindled to $56 million and the 13 board members, many of whom have degrees from Ivy League universities, appear beholden to its chair, ex-judge Milton Tingling, and loathe to challenge him, one former member told The Post.<\/p>\n

NY County Clerk and former Judge Milton Tingling is the chairman of the West Harlem Development Corporation. NYS Courts<\/p>\n

The nonprofit is also being sued by former board member and employee Vincent Morgan over allegations of antisemitism, racism and harassment by the group\u2019s executive director, Zead Ramadan.<\/a><\/p>\n

As part of that lawsuit, Morgan claims Tingling called a meeting outside working hours in February 2024 where he told him \u201cthings are starting to go off the rails,\u201d and told him to check with him before raising issues, according to federal court filings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to say this up front: What goes on here stays here,\u201d Tingling said, according to a transcript of the meeting.<\/p>\n

Former board member Vincent Morgan is suing the nonprofit. Courtesy of Vincent Morgan<\/p>\n

Zead Ramadan, executive director of the West Harlem Development Corporation, has been accused of racism and antisemitism in a federal lawsuit. Zead Ramadan\/ Facebook<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody should be going to the board. Even Zead doesn\u2019t go to the board. He comes to me first. Okay, that\u2019s the way it has to be. There\u2019s no direct line to the board. That\u2019s out completely now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tingling and Ramadan did not respond to requests for comment. WHDC has denied the allegations made in Morgan\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Larry English, who represents Democratic New York Congressman Adriano Espaillat on the WHDC board of directors, expressed his frustrations over the board\u2019s inaction <\/a>to The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately the money belongs to the West Harlem community and change will only occur when we demand it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The board itself is not lacking in experience. It includes Damon Munchus, a Harvard graduate, who worked as an aide in the Obama administration and describes himself as \u201ca Senior Qualified Financial Expert with 25+ years experience uniting investment banking deal execution, B2B technology operating finance, and federal public-policy\u201d on his\u00a0LinkedIn profile.<\/a> He declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n

Darlene Grant Bruce is a member of the West Harlem Development Corporation board who was appointed as a Commissioner to the New York Parole Board last year by Governor Kathy Hochul. westharlem_dc\/Instagram<\/p>\n

In April, English had introduced a motion to terminate Ramadan \u2014 who previously ran a caf\u00e9 and had no nonprofit experience prior to assuming his role in 2020 \u2014 for \u201ca pattern of behavior characterized by systemic bigotry, professional incompetence and the cultivation of a hostile work environment,\u201d according to a motion viewed by The Post.<\/p>\n

In one instance, Ramadan allegedly referred to two African American women on the board as \u201cold black church ladies\u201d and to Ross Frommer, a vice president of Columbia University as \u201cthis messy f\u2014ing Zionist Jewish guy who has done nothing in two decades\u2026he was the biggest bum\u2026piece of s\u2014t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The motion to terminate Ramadan was denied by the board. Earlier, board members had twice voted on whether to remove English, but he retained enough support to stay, according to documents seen by The Post.<\/p>\n

In addition to Espaillat, other board members represent Democratic City Councilmember Sean Abreu, State Assemblyman Jordan Wright and Community Board 9 chair Victor Edwards. None returned The Post\u2019s calls for comment about WHDC.<\/p>\n

Ted Kovaleff, a longtime member of the West Harlem Development Corporation board, is a former Columbia University dean who lives in Vermont.<\/p>\n

Damon Munchus, who is on the board of the West Harlem Development Corporation, is a Harvard graduate and financial expert with more than 25 years of experience, according to his LinkedIn page.<\/p>\n

Wright is the son of Harlem power broker Keith Wright, who heads up the New York County Democrats, and still wields a great deal of power in the district. Wright senior also did not return a request for comment Monday.<\/p>\n

One longtime board member doesn\u2019t even live in the district. Ted Kovaleff, a former assistant dean of Columbia University\u2019s School of Law and a PhD in history, who has been on the board since its formation in 2009, lives in Vermont, according to public records, and calls into board meetings.<\/p>\n

A memorandum from Larry English to the Board of Directors of the West Harlem Development Corporation (WHDC) is shown on April 27, 2026, in New York. The document outlines a motion for the immediate termination of Executive Director Zead Ramadan for cause.<\/p>\n

Another board member, Georgette Morgan-Thomas<\/a>, a reverend and Harlem civic leader, spends most of her time in Philadelphia running one of the last hat factories in the US, which she co-owns, according to an online bio.<\/p>\n

Among the staff members administering the $56 million \u2014 the amount left from Columbia University\u2019s windfall, to make good on its $6.3 billion incursion into the neighborhood \u2014 is a longtime, semi-retired bookkeeper and \u201cfinancial assistant\u201d with no corporate experience in the US. Their last job was working as \u201ca restaurant team member\u201d at Google, according to documents viewed by The Post.<\/p>\n

The board also includes Darlene Grant Bruce, who was recently named a commissioner to the New York State Parole Board by Governor Kathy Hochul, a part-time position that comes with a $190,000 salary and six-year term.<\/p>\n

However, as The Post has reported, the WHDC spends around the same amount the funds earns in interest each year, approximately $2 million on Thanksgiving turkeys a music festival and local arts groups, rather than anything meaningful for the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An embattled Harlem nonprofit accused of squandering tens of millions meant for the area\u2019s regeneration is hobbled by…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1022020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,4292,17628,5231,5248,405,403,5226,5225,15418,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":["post-1022019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-columbia-university","tag-corruption","tag-harlem","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-nonprofits","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117153234003781740","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1022019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1022020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1022019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1022019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1022019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}