A prominent Brooklyn pastor is calling for the resignation of a local Democratic Socialists of America leader after a series of reports raised questions about housing, unpaid rent, and union credentials.The controversy is now becoming a broader test of whether the organization applies the same standards to its own leadership that it demands from landlords, employers, and elected officials.
Rev. Kevin McCall publicly called on NYC-DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo to step down, citing five specific concerns he wants the organization to address.
“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.
Gordillo, 38, is one of the leaders of the New York City chapter of the DSA and reportedly earns a salary of approximately $95,000 from the organization.
He lives in a nearly 2,000-square-foot row house in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood that his parents purchased through Chucuito LLC in 2019 for just under $1 million.
The property is now valued at roughly $1.5 million, according to reporting by the New York Post.
Gordillo’s parents also reportedly own two multimillion-dollar homes in Florida, including properties in Boca Raton and Weston worth a combined approximately $6 million.
McCall argued that those facts are relevant because the DSA has built much of its political identity around representing working-class tenants and opposing wealthy landlords.
“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.
“DSA leaders and elected officials must answer these questions publicly and call for Gordillo’s resignation,” he added.
One of McCall’s concerns involves allegations that Gordillo’s family converted the Bedford-Stuyvesant property from a two-family home into a single-family residence.
McCall argued that such a conversion would reduce available housing in a historically black and brown neighborhood during a housing affordability crisis.
He also questioned whether Gordillo had been transparent about his residency at the property and whether he had been paying rent while living there.
Another major issue involves Gordillo’s public image as a union electrician.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 reportedly removed Gordillo from its apprenticeship program in March after he stopped attending for months.
The union also said he never completed the requirements necessary to become a fully credentialed electrician.
McCall is demanding transparency about whether union labor was used during renovations to the Bedford-Stuyvesant property.
He also cited a separate housing dispute involving a Crown Heights apartment Gordillo rented while the townhouse was being renovated.
Court filings reportedly show that Gordillo is being sued in housing court over three missed rent payments of $2,500 each.
McCall argued that the case creates an uncomfortable contrast for someone leading an organization heavily 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,” McCall said.
“That is not housing justice,” he continued. “That is not practicing what you preach.”