Appearing to distance the candidate from comments made Sunday by the Reverend Warren Abney at the Greater Highway Deliverance Temple at East Harlem, Fernando Ferrer’s campaign issued a statement yesterday in response to Mr. Abney’s labeling the forces of gentrification in his neighborhood “the enemy.”

A spokesman for Mr. Ferrer, Chad Clanton, said: “Those weren’t Mr. Ferrer’s words. Certainly we should never think of other New Yorkers as enemies. There is a serious crisis of affordability – people are literally being priced out of their own city. Mr. Ferrer understands this problem and is committed to doing something about it.”

The subjects of “affordable housing” and New Yorkers’ being priced out of their own neighborhoods were prominent in Mr. Ferrer’s remarks at the Sunday service, delivered to the Greater Highway Deliverance Temple’s congregation. They were also issues important to Rev. Abney, who introduced Mr. Ferrer and a Democratic candidate for City Council, John Ruiz, before the office-seekers delivered their remarks. Rev. Abney, who is executive director of Greater Highway’s outreach arm, the Metropolitan Community Development Corporation, said during his introduction, “The people of God are going out to possess the land,” adding: “Harlem belongs to us. We’re going to go out and take it from the enemy.” In response to a question from The New York Sun, he later identified “the enemy” as gentrification and the type of economic development that has taken place in Harlem in recent years.

While the Ferrer campaign made it clear the candidate disagrees with any statement that would characterize other New Yorkers as enemies, the rest of the Democratic contenders for the mayoralty were mum on the subject, as was the mayor, a Republican. Through spokesmen, Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Gifford Miller declined to comment on both Rev. Abney’s statement and the subject of Harlem’s economic development. Spokesmen for Rep. Anthony Weiner and Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields said their candidates were unavailable for comment.

A Republican political consultant, Michael McKeon, said he wasn’t surprised by the silence. Of the Democratic mayoral candidates, Mr. McKeon said: “These guys will try to duck anything that’s remotely controversial. They’re going to try not to take positions as often as they possibly can, and when they do take positions they’ll take poll-tested, very safe positions.” Mr. McKeon said he is not connected in any way to the Bloomberg campaign.

The mayor’s Republican rivals, meanwhile, were willing to address Rev. Abney’s vision for Harlem. “Clearly there’s a racial overtone to what he’s saying, and that’s unfortunate,” Thomas Ognibene, a former member of the City Council from Queens, said.

“People are entitled to live where they have the ability to live,” he said. “… I don’t think that any particular community belongs to any racial or ethnic group.” As for the Democrats’ and Mr. Bloomberg’s silence about gentrification, Mr. Ognibene said: “New Yorkers are entitled to answers. These are issues of concern to all of us.”

Rev. Abney could not be reached yesterday for further comment.