Floyd Harold Flake (born January 30, 1945) is an American businessman and former politician who is the senior pastor of the 23,000 member Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Is ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

, and former president of

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates in ...

. He is a former member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, serving from 1987 to 1997.

Biography

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

, Flake grew up in

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

as one of fifteen children of Robert Flake, Sr. and Rosie Lee Johnson-Flake. During his childhood, he was influenced by his parents'

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

moral beliefs. After high school, he obtained his BA degree from

in Wilberforce, Ohio, becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college. He served as a social worker and then worked for

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from Sta ...

as a marketing analyst. Flake next worked as Director of Student Affairs at Lincoln University, PA, and subsequently dean of students and director of the Afro-American Center at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. In 1976, he was asked to head the Allen

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

Church (now The Greater Allen Cathedral of New York). Under Flake's leadership, the church grew from having about 1,400 members to over 23,000 parishioners. Flake is married to Margaret Elaine McCollins and has four children. He is also a fellow at the

Manhattan Institute for Policy Research The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Ant ...

. Flake served as President of

from 2002 to 2008, leaving under heavy, publicized scrutiny and severe critique over his impact on the school. He is a political patron of

New York Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan compo ...

Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith and Democratic U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks. Despite his affiliation with the Democratic party, in 2006 he was the co-chair of conservative Republican Ken Blackwell's (R) campaign for governor of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The s ...

and endorsed

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ...

in the

New York City mayoral election, 2005 The 2005 New York City mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 8, 2005, with incumbent Republican mayor Michael Bloomberg soundly defeating former Bronx borough president Fernando Ferrer, the Democratic nominee. Several third-party ca ...

Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York

Flake is the senior pastor of the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York in

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Spring ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. According to the published marketing message, "The church and its subsidiary corporations operate with an annual budget of over $34 million. The church also owns expansive commercial and residential developments; a 750-student private school founded by Flake and his wife Elaine, and various commercial and social service enterprises, which has placed it among the nation's most productive religious and urban development institutions. The corporations, church administrative offices, school, and ministries comprise one of the Borough of Queens' largest private sector employers." The Church is recognized as a major real estate developer. Flake earned a D.Min. degree from the

United Theological Seminary United Theological Seminary is a United Methodist seminary in Trotwood, Ohio. Founded in 1871 by Milton Wright (father of the Wright brothers), it was originally sponsored by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1946, members ...

in Dayton, OH. Additional studies were conducted at Payne Theological Seminary and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...

School of Business. His numerous honorary degrees include awards from Boston University, Fisk University, Lincoln University (PA), and Cheney State (PA).(AllenCathedral.org) Flake serves as a member of the following boards: (1) The President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education; (2) The

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...

Foundation; (3) ''

The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...

''; (4) The New York City Investment Fund Civic Capital Corporation; (5) the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures credi ...

Advisory Committee on Banking Policy and (6) the Bank of America National Advisory Board. In honor of his role as a Queens community leader,

Merrick Boulevard Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City. Merrick Road runs east from the Queens ...

in southeastern Queens was renamed for Flake in October 2020.

Political career

In 1986, he defeated incumbent Democratic congressman Alton Waldon in the primary and was elected to the

100th United States Congress 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

from the 6th New York Congressional District, which included

and most of its surrounding neighborhoods, stretching from Ozone Park and Woodhaven to the border with Nassau County. He remained in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ca ...

until 1997, when he resigned in the middle of a term in order to return to work at his church full-time. In Congress, Flake garnered a reputation for working across the partisan divide with conservative Republicans, despite representing an overwhelmingly liberal, Democratic district. He also endorsed Republicans

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went o ...

for New York State Governor and

Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...

for New York City Mayor. In 1990, Flake and his wife were

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...

for alleged fraud and embezzlement of church funds. The couple pleaded not guilty. They won a measure of vindication in 1991 when, after hearing three weeks of prosecution witnesses, the judge dismissed so much of the prosecutor's case that he opted to drop all remaining charges. Interviews with jurors afterward indicated that, had the prosecutor opted to continue prosecution, the jury would not have found the couple guilty of any of these remaining charges. In 1991, Flake joined an amicus brief in support of the New York City Council in the case ''Richmond Boro Gun Club v. City of New York'', 896 F. Supp. 276, which upheld the council's prohibition on "the possession or transfer" within New York City of "

assault weapon In the United States, ''assault weapon'' is a controversial term used to define firearms with specified characteristics. The definition varies among regulating jurisdictions, but usually includes semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magaz ...

s" and certain ammunition feeding devices.

Business interests

Flake has an ownership interest in Aqueduct Race Track Entertainment Group (AEG) which in January 2010 was awarded a contract to operate a 4,500

slot machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...

racino A racino is a combined race track and casino. In some cases, the gambling is limited to slot machines, but many locations are beginning to include table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette. In 2003, Joe Bob Briggs described the econo ...

at the Aqueduct Race Track by

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...

. The process has generated controversy after claims have been made that Paterson required affirmative action ownership in the company (rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one o ...

also joined AEG), that AEG was allowed to change its bid from the lowest to the highest and because Paterson allegedly awarded the bid two days after Flake threatened to back

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

in the 2010 governor race. U.S. prosecutors are reportedly investigating the process and New York house speaker Sheldon Silver has threatened not to sign off on the deal. Paterson has maintained there was no

quid pro quo Quid pro quo ('what for what' in Latin) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", ...

. On March 9, 2010, Flake withdrew from the project saying that it was distracting from his other projects. Jay-Z and Paterson also withdrew from the projects.Paterson Recuses Himself From Racino Project - New York Daily News - March 9, 2010

Publications

Flake has published several books, including ''The Way of the Bootstrapper: Nine Action Steps for Achieving Your Dreams'' () in 1999.

References

External links

Biographical Directory of the United States CongressThe History Makers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flake, Floyd Harold 1945 births African-American people in New York (state) politics Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Methodist ministers African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy Living people African-American members of the United States House of Representatives Clergy of historically African-American Christian denominations Wilberforce University alumni Boston University faculty Wilberforce University Public officeholders of Rockaway, Queens United Theological Seminary alumni African-American Methodists African-American Methodist clergy American Methodist clergy Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Manhattan Institute for Policy Research