Boys & Girls Club May Vote To Drop Bronx's Gloria Wise Club Next Month

The Boys & Girls Club of America, a federation of nearly 1,200 affiliates across the country, may drop the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx from its ranks at a vote next month.

Gloria Wise is under investigation by the city's Department of Investigation for matters that include transferring $875,000 to Progress Media, former parent company of the Air America radio network, and to the club's director of development, Evan Montvel Cohen, who headed Progress Media.

A recommendation to the national organization's board of governors came out of a months-long investigation by the group, which a spokesman said was initiated before the city probe was announced in June. The spokesman, Evan McElroy, would not detail the findings of the federation's investigation but said yesterday, "We do not drop an organization lightly. It's very, very rare that it happens."

A spokeswoman for Gloria Wise, Marta Rose of Rubenstein Public Relations, said the Bronx club's board found out about the national group's recommendation yesterday and will meet soon to discuss how to preserve its affiliation.

Piquant LLC, which acquired Air America from Mr. Cohen's Progress Media in May 2004, has agreed to pay $875,000 to Gloria Wise, without interest, in installments over the next two years.

An employee of Air America, who requested anonymity, said yesterday that it received a letter from the city Department of Investigation recommending that the network set up an attorney-managed escrow account for the payments, rather than pay Gloria Wise directly or wait until the department's investigation concludes. The employee said the network made its first payment, of an unknown amount, yesterday.

An official of the city agency, who asked not to be named, said later that the letter asked that the radio network put the entire $875,000 in an escrow account.

According to Mr. McElroy of the national association, Gloria Wise's membership was placed on provisional status June 28 because of its failure to meet several membership requirements. After an internal investigation turned up more information, the association initiated the process for dropping the Bronx club from the membership rolls July 19. On September 19, the recommendation to rescind their membership is to be presented to the board and put to a vote.

Should Gloria Wise lose its membership, it will have to surrender the Boys & Girls Club name and logo and will lose access to some capital funds disbursed from association headquarters in Atlanta. That money does not make up a significant percentage of Gloria Wise's annual budget.