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HARLEM — Churches are losing members but gaining profits from gentrification.
Nearly two dozen churches have either closed or been sold to developers for more than $50 million over the last decade, according to a review by DNAinfo New York and Harlem historian Michael Henry Adams.
The churches often sell because of a combination of factors including dwindling memberships, high maintenance costs and the lure of millions of dollars from developers ready to buy in Harlem.
More than half of the $53.1 million came from a single church — LaGree Baptist Church which sold for $28.5