Harlem Boys Choir

The Boys Choir of Harlem (BCH) will not be evicted from its practice facility on Jan. 31 thanks to a new deal reached with the New York City public-school system and the efforts of Rep. Charles Rangel and former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.

Facing eviction from the Choir Academy of Harlem, the public school where it has rehearsed for the past several years, Rangel met privately with New York Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott in a plea to keep the choir at the school.

Last week, the Dept. of Education asked the group to leave the facility after it failed to address financial and leadership problems over the past 12 years. In addition, the choir also failed to find a replacement for its founder, Walter Turnbull, which it had agreed to do in 2004 after an investigation found he did not act on allegations that an employee had sexually abused a student.