A New York civil rights leader is urging Gustavo Gordillo, co-leader of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City chapter, to resign, arguing that a string of controversies has turned the group into what he called the “Double Standards of America.”
Rev. Ken McCall said Gordillo should step aside after reports that his wealthy parents helped place him in a renovated $1.5 million luxury row house in a historically Black neighborhood facing rapid gentrification. McCall also pointed to a lawsuit accusing Gordillo of failing to pay rent at another property, along with questions about whether he overstated his blue-collar work background.
“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,” said McCall, a pastor who also works with tenants living in New York City Housing Authority developments.
“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. DSA leaders and elected officials must answer these questions publicly and call for Gordillo’s resignation.”
Gordillo, 38, uses the X handle “@uniongustavo,” a public branding choice that has drawn renewed scrutiny amid questions about his labor record.
The former Yale University liberal arts student was dismissed in March from an electricians’ union apprenticeship program after months of absences, according to a statement last week from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3. The union said he therefore never became a fully credentialed electrician.
Afterward, the DSA put Gordillo on a $95,000 salary.
The latest revelations have intensified criticism of Gordillo, who has aligned himself with DSA colleagues in attacking landlords and the wealthy, while opponents argue his own background reflects privilege rather than the working-class struggle he has claimed to represent.
Gordillo, co-chairman of the NYC chapter of the DSA, is peddling his anti-capitalist lefty agenda while enjoying life in an expensive, two-story, nearly 2,000-square-foot row home on a gentrifying, tree-lined block in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Property records show that the Ivy League lefty’s converted single-family home was bought in 2019 by his parents through a dummy corporation, Chucuito LLC, for just under $1 million.
An immigrant from Peru, Gordillo grew up in South Florida with his parents, who ended up thriving in America. His father, also Gustavo, is a construction magnate.
The parents now own a sprawling, more-than 5,000-square-foot, five-bed, six-bath home in Boca Raton that is currently on the market for $3.1 million, records show.
They also own another $3 million home in Weston, Fla., that is just slightly larger and has five beds and seven baths.
“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. That is not practicing what you preach.”
The Post on Saturday revealed that Gordillo is being sued in Brooklyn housing court after skipping three $2,500 rent payments for a Crown Heights apartment he leased while the $1.5 million townhouse gifted to him by his father underwent renovations, according to court filings.
McCall is demanding that NYC-DSA leadership address the following concerns:
- Affordable-housing implications: Gordillo and his family appear to eliminate potential housing capacity, converting what was a two-family home into a one-family home in a historically Black and brown community at a time when New York City faces an acute affordability crisis.
If these demands are not met, McCall said he and other clergy, and NYCHA members will “organize days of action” to call for accountability.
The Post reached out to the DSA and Gordillo for comment.
