‘Double Standards of America’: Pastor Slams DSA Leader’s Luxury Home
- Edited by: Sagar Kar
- Updated Aug 24, 2026, 04:00 IST
Brooklyn pastor Rev. Kevin McCall is calling for the resignation of NYC DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo after revelations that his wealthy parents bought him a $1.5 million luxury home in Brooklyn, New York.
Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of the NYC-DSA. (Image: X)
A prominent civil rights leader in Brooklyn wants Gustavo Gordillo, co-leader of New York City’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, out of his position. Rev. Kevin McCall says a string of recent revelations about Gordillo’s personal life have undermined everything the organization claims to stand for.
According to a report from the New York Post, McCall didn’t hold back in his criticism, arguing that the situation reveals a pattern of hypocrisy within the group.
“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. He’s a Brooklyn pastor who also works directly with tenants living in New York City Housing Authority complexes.
What Sparked the Backlash
The controversy centers on three separate issues that have surfaced about Gordillo in recent weeks. First, his millionaire parents reportedly set him up in a renovated $1.5 million luxury row house located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, a neighborhood with deep Black history that has been steadily gentrifying. Second, he’s currently being sued for failing to pay rent at another property he was leasing. Third, questions have emerged about whether he misrepresented his work history in blue collar trades.
McCall argues all three issues raise legitimate concerns about honesty. “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,” he said. “DSA leaders and elected officials must answer these questions publicly and call for Gordillo’s resignation.”
The Union Job That Wasn’t
Gordillo, 38, once studied liberal arts at Yale University before attempting to become an electrician. That plan didn’t pan out. According to a statement from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3, Gordillo was fired from his electricians’ union apprenticeship program in March after being absent for months. As a result, he never actually earned his credentials as a licensed electrician.
Despite that outcome, the DSA went on to pay him a $95,000 salary.
A Life Far From the Working Class
Much of the criticism aimed at Gordillo focuses on the gap between his public persona and his private circumstances. As a leader who frequently criticizes landlords and wealthy elites alongside his DSA colleagues, Gordillo has positioned himself as an ally of the working class. But his own background tells a different story.
Property records reviewed by the publication reportedly show that the row house he lives in, a two story home spanning nearly 2,000 square feet on a gentrifying, tree lined block in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was purchased in 2019 by his parents. They bought it through a shell company called Chucuito LLC for just under $1 million.
Gordillo immigrated from Peru and grew up in South Florida, where his parents built a successful life. His father, who shares his first name, made his fortune in the construction industry.
That success shows in the family’s real estate holdings. Records show Gordillo’s parents currently own a more than 5,000 square foot home in Boca Raton with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, now listed for $3.1 million. They also own a second property in Weston, Florida, worth roughly $3 million, with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
McCall Calls Out the Contradiction
For McCall, the disconnect between Gordillo’s public advocacy and his personal circumstances is impossible to ignore, especially given the state of public housing in the city.
“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.”
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Sagar is a journalist with an interest primarily in geopolitics and American domestic politics. Before joining Times Now, he wrote for Republic and Sw… View More
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world