City Funds Fitness for Faithful

A city program that bankrolls fitness training for religious congregations, to the exclusion of secular groups, breaches the barrier between church and state, said critics. Beginning last year the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has been paying fitness trainers to lead religious congregants in exercise – in August it gave $20,800 to six fitness trainers, according to city documents. Participating organizations, which have included Jewish, Islamic, and Christian houses of worship, also get barbells, exercise balls, and other fitness tools. Health official Victor Hunter said the program reaches out exclusively to religious groups because they tend to have deep roots in the community. Jeremy Leaming, a spokesperson for the non-profit group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said, “This is pretty blatant direct funding of religious organizations under the guise of a fitness health program.” He added, “If New York City is serious about seeing the health of residents improved it’s not gonna have such a narrowly tailored program.”—Mike McPhate