(Angel Chevrestt)
GUILT TRIP: Rosemary Graham says she had been reluctant to sue a house of God after falling at Harlem’s Grace Congregational Church, but “I prayed on it, and then I saw the lawyer on TV.” (
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It’s a fall from grace.
Houses of worship in the city are getting slapped with nickel-and-dime personal-injury lawsuits by money-hungry litigants and their lawyers, The Post has learned.
Dozens of churches and synagogues — many struggling to stay afloat with diminishing congregations — are being forced to expend their already meager resources on a startling rash of slip-and-fall suits filed against them.
“All I know is we just pray every day,” said Claudette King of the Greater Faith Temple of the Living God in The Bronx. “And we also pray that we don’t get sued.”
Her prayers haven’t been answered.
Latroia Peterson sued the church last March, saying she injured her leg after tripping over a crack on its property.
She had scant desire to discuss her suit with a Post reporter.
“No, I ain’t saying nothing to you,” she screeched. “I don’t want you harassing me.”
Her lawyer, Frank Vozza, also has filed suit against another church. He didn’t return calls.
Administrators said many of the litigants are cash-strapped strangers who fall under the unholy influence of greedy attorneys.
Rosemary Graham, 68, sued the Grace Congregational Church of Harlem last year after claiming she slipped on a crack in front of a property owned by the church.
The retiree acknowledged feeling trepidation at suing a house of God — but filed the suit anyway.
“I didn’t think it was right to sue the church,” Graham confessed. “All my friends, they said God wouldn’t want me to be in pain, so I prayed on it, and then I saw the lawyer on TV.”
That attorney, Thomas Markovitz, encouraged her to sue. He has filed claims against two other churches over the past year. He refused to comment.
Other cases include that of Vincent William, who sued the Family Baptist Church in The Bronx in June 2012 after tripping on a crack.
“When I was in the hospital, there were lawyers all over me,” he said.
Pastor Bruce Rivera of the Church of Christ in The Bronx was sued after a child fell in an inflatable playpen his congregation had provided for a community event.
“It’s a litigious society — we’ve all heard of the saying. They call it the ‘ghetto lottery,’ ” he said “I think the mother saw dollar signs.”
But an attorney who has leveled personal-injury cases against synagogues defended the practice.
“I am comfortable bringing claims against entities who have acted negligently and whose negligence caused serious injuries,” said the lawyer, who requested anonymity.