Metro

Rector of Manhattan’s Trinity Church to step down

The controversial rector and CEO of Wall Street’s Trinity Church has given his flock two years’ notice that he is stepping down.

The Rev. James Cooper, who draws $1.3 million in salary and perks, is disliked by many for his leadership priorities and is accused in a lawsuit of rigging a church election so he could pack its governing board with his cronies.

Church leaders say Cooper’s drawn-out departure will give them time to find a suitable new leader to oversee the church and its $1 billion in Manhattan real estate.

But some in his congregation say he isn’t leaving soon enough.

“The Pope is leaving in two weeks. Why does the Rector need two years?” asked Jeremy Bates, who is disputing the outcome of last year’s election in a lawsuit filed this week in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Cooper, 68, was unrepentant in the letter announcing his planned departure. He claimed that the church operates “with increased transparency.” “I am proud of the work we have accomplished,” Cooper wrote.

He joined Trinity in 2004 after spending more than 30 years leading an Episcopal church in Florida.

Nearly half of Trinity’s 22-member ruling board, or vestry, resigned in protest or were forced out in late 2011 and early 2012 amid a feud over Cooper’s continued stewardship.

Many on the board felt he had wasted more than $1 million on development plans for church real estate, and burned through another $5 million in a publicity campaign.

Cooper considered leaving at the time — if he’d be given a burial plot in the church’s historic cemetery, health and life insurance benefits to age 72, an undisclosed “thank you” payment, a donation in his name to a charity, and $200,000 per year for seven years to fund a support staff.

Cooper ultimately decided to stay on. He lives in a $5.5 million SoHo townhouse Trinity purchased for him

A church spokesman yesterday declined to say anything about the terms of his departure in February 2015.