There
have been significant developments in the four years since Tom Ruffles last
wrote about the gradual decline of the
American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR), the New York-based nonprofit organisation with a history dating back to 1884 (not 1885 as misstated for decades by current
ASPR leadership, and widely repeated elsewhere). These developments involve what appear to be
murky financial transactions which had gone unchecked by regulatory bodies,
despite concerned outsiders having warned them repeatedly of the deteriorating
situation.
The
ASPR had once been in good financial health. It had fully owned
its townhouse headquarters in New York City since 1966, when Chester Carlson (physicist and inventor of the Xerox copying process), who had
previously provided financial support for research, gave the ASPR the funds to
purchase a superb building just steps from Central Park. The beautiful five-storey building, with nine
fireplaces imported from Italy, was originally constructed in 1903 as a luxury
residence (‘The 1903 Strasburger House -- No. 5 West 73rd Street’). In 1978, reaffirmed in 1990, the New York
City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the entire block, including
the ASPR’s lot, a Historic District.
In addition to the building, when
Carlson died in 1968 he left over $1 million in stock to the ASPR's endowment
fund (‘American Society for Psychical Research’). Sustained by this financial security, the
organisation possessed a high profile in psychical research. During the last three decades, however, the position
has altered drastically, with large financial deficits, the unavailability of
its library and archive, the cessation of its activities, and now the loss of
its headquarters building. It is worth
examining the sorry affair in detail.
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| View and location of No. 5 West 73rd Street |
Mortgaged to the hilt
The
2000s and 2010s saw the gradual conversion by ASPR president Nancy Sondow of the
value of the nonprofit’s prestigious
building at 5 West 73rd Street in Manhattan into cash via mortgages. According to New York City official property
records, between 26 September 2002 and 30 July 2019, Sondow, acting on behalf
of the organisation, signed five mortgages (property equity loans) and four mortgage consolidation
agreements, using the fully-owned ASPR building and
lot as collateral. The
fifth mortgage, on 30 July 2019
for $1,750,000, was concurrent with the individual loans being combined into
the final mortgage consolidation agreement, by which time the
unpaid principal balance owed by the ASPR was $11,750,000. For those unfamiliar with the details, a
mortgage is the part of a loan agreement that describes the property being used
as collateral for the cash received by way of the loan. The other part is a promissory note, which is
referenced in the mortgage. It sets out
the interest rate and repayment schedule.
Mortgages are required to be recorded in the official property records
of New York City; promissory notes are not.
The cash amount of the loan is the same on both documents.
The ASPR’s
mortgage loan amounts and dates signed by Sondow are as follows (these are the
dates signed, not the document dates): $1,500,000 (26 September 2002),
$3,951,784.35 (21 July 2011), $2,000,000 (12 May 2014), $2,800,000 (22 May
2016), and $1,750,000 (30 July 2019), a staggering total of
$12,001,784.35. There is a satisfaction
of mortgage (i.e. a document acknowledging that the terms of the mortgage
agreement have been fulfilled) showing in the property records for the first
mortgage because the loan was acquired by another lender and the original
lender needed to state that it was no longer involved. The mortgage came due on 29 July 2020, but the ASPR failed to pay
the outstanding principal and interest on that date, thereby defaulting on the
loan.
These
figures have to compared with those reported to the federal Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) on its annual Form 990 return. According to the 2019 990, the mortgages totalled
$10,000,000 at the start of the year and $11,750,000 at the end, reflecting the
mortgage for $1,750,000 signed in July 2019.
On this, $1,097,845 in interest was paid. It is curious that Sondow signed another
mortgage in 2019 while the property was being put on the market because
payments could not be met. The mortgage
amount reported to the IRS in subsequent years remained at $11,750,000 until
the start of 2022, and by the end of that year was showing as $0.
Whether the ASPR’s
executive director Patrice Keane had a direct role
in the mortgage transactions arranged by Sondow is unknown. Keane’s signature does not appear on any of
the five mortgages signed by Sondow but her email address alone is given on
mortgage number five, 30 July 2019, and on the final mortgage
consolidation agreement, also 30 July 2019,
which lists all the previous mortgages, as one of the contractually obligated
places to send notices and requests. The
other contacts are Sondow and the ASPR’s then attorney, Jay Gerzog. With regard to the
promissory notes, it is unknown if Keane received any notices, or if her name or email address appear on any of them. The notes are kept privately by the lender and borrower. Since Keane was the only salaried
employee, one would expect her to have been aware of the sources of her
nonprofit’s income.
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| Five mortgages, 2002-2019 |
After the
mortgages were signed the money effectively vanished, with no explanation by
the ASPR leadership to the public or membership as to why the five loans were
needed and what became of the money.
Unless it, or what
is recoverable, reemerges at some
future point, this is money lost to the mission for which the ASPR was set up. Unfortunately, it appears that a significant
portion of the borrowed money was used to pay monthly interest and is gone
forever. Eventually, with
the ASPR having no funds to pay back the consolidation mortgage, the ASPR’s
Manhattan headquarters building was put up for sale in July 2019 with a price
tag of just under $18 million. It failed
to sell (the Covid pandemic cannot have helped), the price was reduced to
$15,750,00, and it was eventually withdrawn.
There was a silver lining for the ASPR to the pandemic, however,
because it
received two loans from the U.S. Government under the Paycheck Protection
Program (‘PPP Loan Data – American Society For Psychical Research, New York,
NY’). Provided by the Small Business
Administration, one was for $26,380 in May 2020, the second for $26,382 in
March 2021 – a total of $52,762. The PPP
website states that “the vast majority of businesses are expected to have the
majority or all of their PPP loan forgiven by the SBA, effectively making it a
grant.” Why a significant sum of money was made
available to an organisation that was moribund is a question for the Small
Business Administration to answer.
Follow the money
The
ASPR’s declining fortunes can be followed by examining its obligatory financial
returns (it is registered as a non-profit under 501(c)(3) Title 26 of the
United States Code, making it exempt from property taxes; according to the
ProPublica website, it has been tax-exempt since September 1942). It makes two types of financial filings.
One is Form 990, ‘Return
of Organization Exempt From Income Tax’, submitted to the IRS.
The other is Form
CHAR500, ‘Annual Filing for Charitable Organizations’, submitted to the New
York State Office of the Attorney General Charities Bureau. These make fascinating reading, as they allow
outsiders a glimpse of developments within the organisation that would
otherwise be hidden from the outside world.
Tracking
back over the past half decade, the 2019 Form 990, dated 29 October 2020, shows
a number of individuals as trustees, though none can be said to be particularly
well-known in the field (the last person to sit on the board with a profile in
parapsychology was Keith Harary, who had left by the time the 2018 Form 990 was produced). In addition to Sondow, the board comprised
George Kokoris, Barbara Gallagher, Susan Hurley, Elizabeth Maldonado and Marie
Cooper Janis. Janis is probably Maria
Cooper Janis, the daughter of the actor
and Hollywood legend Gary
Cooper (she also goes by the name Marie).
These individuals’ names have not been publicised by the ASPR and are
only known because of the requirement to file legal documents. In addition to their positions as trustees,
Sondow was listed as president, Kokoris as treasurer and second vice president,
and Janis as first vice president, though these vice-presidential roles are not
explained. None of these positions was
renumerated. Keane’s salary was
$139,955.
Mysteriously, a loan appears on the 2019 Form 990 Schedule
L (“Transactions With Interested Persons”) from the ASPR to Nancy Sondow in the amount of $1,770,000 for the purpose of “working capital”, though
working for what purpose is left unspecified.
At this point the ASPR was running a deficit of minus $12,058,585, up from minus $10,509,248 the previous
year. The 2019 Form 990 form shows
Sondow as president and trustee, but the Form CHAR500 for 2019 was co-signed by
Sondow as President/Treasurer and Kokoris as Treasurer; Sondow had suddenly
become co-treasurer besides her role as president, though this was only
temporary.
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| The loan to Nancy Sondow |
On the matter of loans, it is worth noting that according to the website of the Office of the New York State Attorney General, “Charities, other than those established as education corporations, are not permitted to lend money to their officers and directors, even if they have good business reasons for wanting to make the loan” (‘Frequently Asked Questions for Charities, Non-Profits & Fundraisers’). However, New York State law makes no mention of any exception for education corporations (‘Section 716: Loans to directors, officers and key persons’). It might be argued that one of the purposes of the ASPR is education, and the word appears a number of times in its supporting 990 documentation, but to the question on the 990 form, “Is the organization an educational institution subject to the section 4968 excise tax on net investment income?”, the answer is “no”, and it would be hard to describe the ASPR as an education corporation. Similarly, the online legal dictionary USLegal specifically defines an Educational Corporation as “a corporation formed not for profit but for an educational purpose, particularly the establishment and maintenance of a school, college, or university” (‘Educational Corporation Law and Legal Definition’). Some clarity on the nature of the loan to Sondow would be welcome. It would not be enough to state that it was authorised by the board and therefore is legitimate.
Examining
the 2020 Form 990, dated 28 October 2021, Keane is listed as executive
director, with a salary of $293,662, which is an increase of $100,000 on the
previous year (there seems to be no rationale for her wildly fluctuating
remuneration). The loan to Sondow for
working capital is now showing as $1,750,000, $20,000 having presumably been repaid.
Kokoris is shown as treasurer and Maldonado is secretary, though the
latter is an unpaid honorary position with one suspects few duties. The Form CHAR500 document for 2020,
dated 16 November 2023, is signed by Sondow and Maldonado, who had taken over
Kokoris’s treasurer role, though retitled chief financial officer. There is no explanation for the delay between
submitting the two documents covering 2020, and it is unclear if the delay was related to the
Covid-19 pandemic.
There
was a hiatus until the summer of 2024, when the APSR belatedly submitted a
flurry of financial documents. There is again no explanation why there was such a
lengthy delay. Whatever the cause, the
delay may have involved significant late fees.
The Form 990 for 2021 is dated 14 June 2024, the 2021 Form CHAR500 is
dated 15 July 2024. The Form 990 shows
the same set of trustees, with Keane’s salary at a relatively modest
$25,300, a marked reduction from previous years and perhaps reflecting
financial realities; after all, when haemorrhaging money the optics of
recording a six-figure salary on official forms does tend to raise eyebrows. Again, though, there is a loan shown against
Sondow’s name of $1,750,000. The ASPR’s
total assets at the end of the year were $645,544, against total liabilities of
$13,540,234, making its net assets minus $12,894,690.
The Form CHAR500 shows that Maldonado had reverted to the less
pretentious title of treasurer, though on the 990 she is shown as secretary,
Kokoris as treasurer.
CHAR500
forms for 2022 and 2023 do not seem to be available, but the 990s are. The 2022 Form 990 is dated 20 October
2024. With total revenue of $19,433,570
and expenses of $7,623,696, net assets now stand at minus
$1,093,222, a reduction of $11,801,468. Income of
$18,887,361 (up from $11,524 the preceding year) is allegedly derived from investments, though mysteriously there is no
investment detailed. The
eye-watering figure for expenses is largely made up of $7,115,526 in interest
payments. Interest
was due on the loan until the property was sold, and would be compounded if no
payments were made. Interest payment in
2020 according to the Form 990 is $158,081, which confirms an inability to
service the debt. The $7,115,526 shown
in the 2022 Form 990 return could easily be accrued given the annual interest
rate of 15% on the original principal of $11,750,000, plus 10% on late fees. A
$1,750,000 loan for working capital is still shown against Sondow’s name. Keane’s salary is $88,585, a marked increase
on the previous year but nowhere near its historic highs. As an aside, Keane’s consistently high salary
over many years makes her by far the best-paid individual in psychical
research.
Where the money
might have come from in 2022 to reduce the
deficit so significantly is unknown. No satisfaction (i.e. repayment) of the consolidation mortgage
was ever recorded, although this mortgage has disappeared from the ASPR’s
balance sheet on the 2022 Form 990 return. At this point, only
the ASPR board, or a forensic accountant with legal access, can shed light on
the matter.
The
paper trail in this story winds
to a close – for now – with the 2023 Form 990, dated 15 November 2024.
Astonishingly, it shows a positive balance, with assets of $2,631,595, a
change from the previous year’s minus
$1,093,222. There is no
explanation for the injection of cash on this form. It must be stressed that this is not because of the repayment of the mortgage. Reflecting
the favourable environment, Keane’s salary has more than doubled since the
previous year to $199,000. Sondow’s
working capital seems to have finally started working, as the original
principal amount of $1,750,000 now shows a balance of $825,000. While total revenue amounts to $4,165,122, a figure which is not explained, expenses are $467,709, a fraction of the preceding year’s but
still substantial. Perhaps reflecting
this increased financial activity, Maldono is joint treasurer with Kokoris, in
addition to her role as secretary. Encouragingly, the supplemental information on the Form 990, carried from year to
year, still asserts that:
“The
ASPR holds a vast archive of documents, photographs, drawings, rare
manuscripts, reports of experiences, research data, correspondence, and books that date back to the 1600s ... The
ASPR continues to seek out, collect, preserve, protect, duplicate, digitize,
and organize these important research documents for its library and archives.”
There
had been considerable expenditure on “rents/storage fees” since 2019, amounting
to $21,115 that year, $23,940 in 2020, and $29,042 in 2021. There was a leap to $47,022 in 2022 and $58,250
in 2023. This significant amount
suggests the extensive archive is still intact, though perhaps is not being
expanded to the extent the statement suggests. If items are being digitised, it is in secret. That the archive is in storage rather than
readily accessible is an unsatisfactory state of affairs, and the level of
expenditure is probably unsustainable, throwing its long-term future into
doubt. The storage location and fitness
for the purpose are unknown, except to insiders.
The
unfolding of a scandal
The gradual
fall-off and finally cessation of any visible activities
and associated financial manoeuvres were for a long time little noticed by those outside the
ASPR. There was no regular programme of lectures or
conferences or systematic public communication.
The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, first
published in 1907, ceased in 2004, as is
stated on the page devoted to the Journal
on the ASPR website (the ASPR also published Proceedings on an irregular basis from 1885, but as of this writing it does not merit a page on the website. The most recent volume on the shelves of the
Society for Psychical Research in London is dated 1974, which appears to be the
last issued). This inactivity regarding
the Journal should have been a red flag that
something was amiss within the organisation.
Despite
the obvious decrease in member benefits and public engagement, surprisingly
there was a general lack of interest among American parapsychologists,
including ex-ASPR members. More
recently, there has been a reluctance to become involved in a campaign to save
it, particularly its historically significant archive. To their shame, board members gradually
dropped out and remained silent rather than defend the organisation. Even when it became clear what was happening
with the finances, eminent figures in the field were willing to deplore the
situation privately but not act publicly.
Until recently, criticism of the ASPR management was sporadic, the
general attitude one of apathy.
That the situation
which is now so painfully evident is not of recent origin is evidenced by
Robert McConnell’s expression of disquiet as long ago as 1995 (Far Out in the New Age), and George
Hansen’s in 2007 (‘A Salary in Parapsychology: Patrice Keane (ASPR)’), and
again in 2012 at that year’s Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies
conference. Hansen noted the scale of
the salary paid to Keane, a six-figure sum for activities invisible to the
outside, while the Society’s assets were drained. In 2011 Stacy Horn recounted her frustrations
attempting to gain access to the ASPR’s archive (‘What is the deal with the
ASPR?’), Guy Lyon Playfair published an article in Fortean Times (‘An American Institution in Low Spirits’) in 2014,
and in 2019 Ruffles began to document the saga.
A brief two-part
TikTok video, ‘What happened to the American Society for Psychical Research?’
was posted by the
GeoHaunts account in 2021.
The first part notes that the ASPR has not opened its doors since 2018
and asks what has happened to the library; the second points out that with
their charitable status uncertain, they are still accepting donations, and it
includes a note, an opinion
by GeoHaunts, stating, “Charity fraud:
soliciting donations for an organisation that does little or no work.” The ASPR certainly does no discernible work and its very
dated website as of this writing continues to solicit donations, so the
implication is clear. Sadly, GeoHaunts’
effort has so far gained little traction.
Complaints
by a small number of individuals who were appalled at what was happening have
been sent to the New York Charities
Bureau since 2019, urging it to investigate what was possibly the serious
offences of embezzlement and money laundering (no counter-explanation for the
disposal of the funds being forthcoming).
Jay Gerzog, the attorney for the ASPR who is listed on the 2019 mortgage
consolidation agreement, was notified of the controversy via email by James A. Conrad on 21 September 2020, and a copy was forwarded to the New York Charities Bureau on 23 September, but neither
responded. It included the information
that there was a five-year statute of limitations for grand larceny and money
laundering, and, based on the publicly
recorded date of the loan consolidation, it was due, in Conrad’s view, to expire on 30
July 2024. Regular follow-up emails to
the Charities Bureau were ignored. These
emails urged the intervention of New
York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, because if there had been
malfeasance time was short. The Charities Bureau is run by the New York
Attorney General’s Office, of which Letitia James is currently in charge.
Someone who wrote to the Charities Bureau in 2023
did receive a reply, which was passed to us.
It appears mostly to be a standard response which says that due to the
high volume of complaints and limited resources it is not possible to
investigate every allegation. It
continues that the Bureau will
scrutinise this particular complaint to see if there are grounds for action by
the Attorney General, adding: “In addition, we will contact American Society
for Psychical Research to request that it remedy its delinquency in filing
annual reports with the Charities Bureau.”
While the letter acknowledged there were governance issues, there was no
follow-up correspondence. It is possible
that prompting by the Charities Bureau was a factor in the ASPR submitting the
outstanding financial returns, though it still took a year for them to
act. At least this correspondent
received prompter treatment than Conrad’s efforts to highlight the matter did.
The eleventh email sent to the Charities
Bureau by Conrad, on 31 July 2024, noting the ostensible expiry of the statute of limitations, finally elicited
a reply the same day in an attached PDF
letter, also dated 31 July. It
does not say why no reply had been made to Conrad’s earlier emails. Again, it
appears mostly to be a standard response, claiming that due to the high volume
of complaints and limited resources it is not possible to investigate every
allegation. It does not say whether the
ASPR will be one of them, only that Conrad’s correspondence will be
evaluated. This is precisely the same
boilerplate text as contained in the reply
sent to the letter writer the previous year.
As
part of the standard text, the letter contains the following caveat: “The
complaint you have filed with this Office has no effect on any statute of
limitations filing deadlines that might apply to your claim.” As there has not been a follow-up from them, or any public announcement
regarding the ASPR, presumably the Charities Bureau and New York
Attorney General Letitia James are still
pondering whether to act. Possibly they calculate the time limits differently, or there are other
applicable laws at the state or federal level involving information on tax
returns and banking transactions that apply to longer or unlimited
investigation deadlines.
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| Charities Bureau letter to James A. Conrad |
In addition to direct approaches to the Charities Bureau, Conrad contacted several news media outlets and journalists, including those actively seeking tip-offs, one of whom claimed to specialise in alleged wrongdoing at non-profits. There were several vague expressions of interest, but none translated into articles. He also emailed Nicholas J. Little, Legal Director for the New York State-based nonprofit The Center for Inquiry on 20 July 2021 and invited CFI to join the effort in asking the Charities Bureau to investigate, but did not receive a reply. A petition set up on Change.org in 2019 by a concerned member of the public (neither of the present authors initiated it) has over 600 signers as of this writing but has yet to bring the scandal to wider public attention (‘Save the American Society for Psychical Research!’).
One person who
might have been in a position to use his high profile to generate interest in
the situation is Dan Aykroyd, who on a number of occasions has cited the
influence reading the ASPR Journal had on him when
he was developing the script for the 1984 film Ghostbusters, his father having been a subscriber and the movie's
story being set in New York City. He
himself was a member (‘No laughing matter’), and
in May 2009 chose the ASPR building as the venue for an interview with Seth
Schiesel of the New York Times, tied in with the release of a new Ghostbusters game by Atari. The article describes the building as “one of
his favourite places.” (‘New Video Game? Who You Gonna Call?’). So far, Aykroyd has
not added his voice to those who are asking
what is happening to the organisation.
Another who has
not put his weight publicly
behind calls to save the ASPR is novelist Grady Hendrix. He once worked at the ASPR where, “besides
archiving letters, case studies, drawings, and photographs, Hendrix handled the
ASPR’s phone line, taking requests for help from researchers and regular people
alike.” (‘Grady Hendrix is a comic writer with a
thing for horror’). In November 2024 he
was still referring to his time at the ASPR during a book tour (‘This horror
writer’s most outlandish character is himself’). Ruffles wrote to Hendrix via his website email
address on 1 July 2020, asking if he had any inside information about the
ASPR’s decline, and hoping he might help to publicise the situation. On 11 November 2024, James A. Conrad invited
him on X to email the New York Charities Bureau and ask for an update on their
investigation (on the assumption there was one). Hendrix did not acknowledge either approach.
The
ASPR headquarters is sold
The Society’s
final interaction with the media seems to have been in October 2017, when Keane
gave journalist Liz Hardaway a tour of the building for the Our Town website (‘The Psychics of
Chelsea’) and mentioned the ASPR was seeking funding for an exhibition on
spirit photography, which has yet to materialise. The article was reproduced on Hardaway’s
website, and her two photographs of the inside of the building show the archive
was still present at that time. When
contacted by Conrad in a 21 February 2022 email to learn if she or any
colleagues might be interested in doing a follow-up story on the current status
of the ASPR, she did not reply.
Photographs on real estate websites
in 2019 show that some of the books were still in situ as a feature, but the
interior had been transformed into a luxurious residence with a white theme to
the decor (e.g. ‘$18M Beaux-Arts mansion is an Upper West Side architectural
icon with Dakota views’). By the
beginning of 2023, the premises had been completely cleared (‘NYC townhouse and
occult researchers’ headquarters lists for $15M’).
The
WebCivil Supreme website is a government-operated
repository of documents for the New York State Civil Supreme Courts, and it
provides valuable information charting the course of the ASPR’s loss of its
building. A foreclosure
lawsuit against the ASPR headquarters was filed in the New York State Supreme
Court on 11 February 2021, a process that occurs after missed mortgage
payments. The lawsuit named the ASPR and
John Does 1-5, a legal tactic that allows naming defendants in the future, for
example, if Sondow and Keane became unavailable as the lawsuit progressed
through the court system. As we have
seen, the foreclosure lawsuit stated the consolidated loan note had an
interest rate of 15% annually and 10% interest on late fees.
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| The lawsuit |
The ASPR initially offered a defence to the lawsuit, but later withdrew it, and the judge granted a motion by the lender (Plaintiff) for the court to appoint a trusted individual called a Receiver to take operational management and financial oversight of the property in May 2022. At this point the ASPR lost physical control of the building (but not legal ownership), as the Receiver would be responsible for preserving the property, subsequent financial transactions, and settling the debt, returning any remaining balance to the organisation. A “vacancy deadline”, for the building to be vacated, was set at 11.59 pm (New York time) on 19 September, 2022, although this was amenable to modification by mutual agreement between Plaintiff and Defendant.
A
“Stipulation of Settlement” was filed on 17 June, 2022. This was an agreement between the Plaintiff,
73 LLC (i.e. limited liability company),
which held the mortgage on 5 West 73rd Street, formerly the ASPR’s
headquarters, and the ASPR plus John Does 1-5.
There are two key points to draw from this document. The first is that the Plaintiff agreed that
the outcome of the foreclosure sale would be the limit of their complaint
against the ASPR, and that they would not pursue the organisation or any of the
John Does for further funds if the auction failed to recover all of the monies
owed, including the interest accrued to date.
Secondly, presumably as a result this undertaking, the ASPR withdrew
their answer (i.e. defence) to the initial Complaint lodged by the Plaintiff,
meaning the judgement was uncontested.
In a
judgement filed on 24 June, 2022, the Hon. Francis Kahn III ordered the
building and lot to be sold at a public auction. The Referee was ordered to pay the Plaintiff
the amount due, a sum of $18,865,223.63 with, from 13 May, 2022 to the sale,
the punitive per diem interest rate
of 24% added. This document confirms
that the Plaintiff’s complaint against the ASPR, i.e. the non-payment of the
consolidated mortgage principal of $11,750,00, had grown to over $18 million
with interest. The 2022 Form 990 shows
the $11,750,000 mortgage was no longer on the balance sheet at the end of the
year.
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| eCourt auction notice |
A “Notice of sale” was filed with the New York County Clerk on 30 December 2022 by Thomas Kleinberger as the Referee, and Glenn Rodney, attorney for the Plaintiff. It stated that the “approximate amount of judgment is $18,865,223.63 plus interest and costs.” There was a last-ditch attempt to sell the property in January 2023, because it was put back on the market for $15 million, as reported in the New York Post (‘NYC townhouse and occult researchers’ headquarters lists for $15M’). The offering expired on the date of the auction. This was not the act of the Receiver, because a foreclosure lawsuit in New York only allows the court to auction the property to pay the debt, not to sell it, rather it was a desperate attempt by Sondow and Keane to avoid the auction, though it was unlikely to succeed given the timescale and would still have left the ASPR well short of the total owed (perhaps the hope was that with the publicity generated by the New York Post article there would be a bidding war to increase the sale price). The effort failed anyway, and the foreclosure auction went ahead as scheduled.
The auction took place on 1 February, 2023,
with an outcome of “Sold”.
Interestingly, a “Receiver’s Deed” wasn’t signed and recorded in the official property records until June 2024; it is
not known why the parties waited sixteen months before creating the new
mortgage documents with the buyer
and recording the deed. A “Foreclosure
Action Surplus Monies Form” was filed with the court on 8 January, 2025 and
shows that there was no surplus money from the 2023 auction turned over to the
ASPR. It had been signed on 20 June,
2024 by the representative for 73
Servicing, LLC. The considerable length
of time between the sale date and making the information public is again
puzzling: the form itself states: “To be completed for every sale by court
appointed Referee and filed with County Clerk and the Supreme Court Calendar
Clerk within 30 days of sale.”
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| eCourt document list |
Under new Ownership
In June 2024, the
website traded announced the sale of
the building to Walter Baker (‘Walter Baker Acquires Specialty Building From
American Society For Psychical Research For $11.75M’). This was much lower than it had been on the
market for previously, and less than the ASPR’s liabilities. The summary continues: “Walter Baker,
represented by 5w73rd LLC, acquired the
specialty building in a foreclosure sale from the American Society for
Psychical Research, marking a significant transaction in the market.” Devastating more accurately sums up this sale
for those engaged in psychical research.
The PropertyShark website,
containing information about the building, includes the question “When was 5
West 73rd Street, New York, NY 10023 last sold and what was the last sale
price?”, to which the answer is: “5 West 73rd Street, New York, NY 10023 was
last sold in [sic] 06/25/2024 for $100” (‘5 West 73rd Street, New York, NY
10023 Property Information’). The
payment of this nominal amount served to seal the deal.
Baker has a
LinkedIn profile in which he describes himself thus: “I’m a Real Estate Buyer
Agent with years of experience as a seasoned buyer liaison to the art and
design, luxury industry. I have a
passion for interiors, design and furnishings.
I consider it an honor to be searching, viewing and acting on behalf of
my clients as we go through the buying process together.” According to his LinkedIn profile he has been
employed as a real estate buyer agent for LG Fairmont since 2017, but he is not
listed on their website, so is presumably now working on his own. To clarify the situation, on 20 December 2024
Ruffles reached out (to use the popular expression) to LG Fairmont asking to be
put in touch with Mr Baker. They did not
reply.
The new owner of the former ASPR headquarters building and lot, as listed on the New York City Department of Finance website (the
Parcel Identifier is Manhattan, Block 1126, Lot 127), is 5w73rd LLC. Presumably
Baker, through 5w73rd LLC, which, as it shares its name with the old ASPR
building’s address would have been set up to acquire the property, is either
going to develop it and sell it on, or is acting as a representative for an unknown buyer who wishes to remain anonymous. One wonders if the new owner and any others
involved in the purchase realise how controversial the acquisition is.
The
image of the New York building only disappeared from the ASPR website some time
after mid-January 2025, a delay a cynic might have considered a
case of false representation. The
address given on the website for individuals who wish to join by post, or make a donation, is
now 459 Columbus Avenue #714, New
York, NY 10024, which was the first obvious
alteration to the website for a long time.
This is a rented mailbox at Manhattan Express Shipping, on the west side
near Central Park, evidence the ASPR no longer has a physical office, just a virtual one. At the time of writing, the ASPR website’s
“Join the Society” page still carries a range of membership levels, from $70
for associates to $50,000 plus for benefactors.
Associates, it says, “receive discounts to talks, conferences, and
special events, and may use the library by appointment.” If the
organisation is still soliciting membership fees but not providing
the advertised benefits or explaining why they are unavailable, that must be
considered fraud.
To try
to clarify the situation, Ruffles made a number of requests for information to
the ASPR. On 14 December 2024 he sent
the following to the general ASPR email address on its website (aspr@aspr.com):
“I note that your New York headquarters has now been sold. Will you be making a statement about the
financial aspects of this transaction, and tell those interested (of which I am
one) about the current whereabouts of the organisation’s library and
archive? What plans do you have to
continue the ASPR?”
A more
detailed set of questions was sent on 10 January 2025 to secretary Elizabeth
Maldonado covering a number of issues, notably the building sale, the mortgages
and the archive, concluding: “In sum, do the current trustees intend to restore
the Society to a full membership organisation which fulfills the objectives for
which it was founded? If that is not the
trustees’ vision, can you tell me what it is?”
The following day similar emails were sent to the email addresses of
Nancy Sondow and Patrice Keane, as found on official documents. None responded.
ASPR
on YouTube!
Somewhat to our
surprise, on the last day of 2024 a YouTube channel, “ASPR Inc.,” uploaded three
videos. The channel was set up by the
ASPR (there is a link to it on the ASPR website) on 16 February 2024, but had
hitherto been inactive. The first video
is a clip taken from Powers of the Mind,
the first programme in a three-part 1992 BBC documentary In Search of the
Dead, which features Sondow. The
other two are talks given by her which are copyrighted 2017 and 2018 by the ASPR. Comments have been turned off on all
three videos. The “About” section
contains the sentence “Through its lectures, archives and information services
the ASPR addresses important questions,” and refers to its “mission”, as if
these activities are ongoing. The
obvious question why for all practical purposes a defunct organisation would go
to the trouble of uploading videos could be to give the impression it is still
active, even though there is little effort involved in putting old videos on
YouTube. At the time of writing, the number
of subscribers has just reached double figures. There is also a Facebook page in the name of
the ASPR, with 137 followers at the time of writing, which is merely a
placeholder with no content.
What
now?
For the moment it
looks like the ASPR has been saved from total collapse, but whether it can be
restored as a viable concern that will once more make important contributions
to psychical research is another matter.
Currently using a rented mailbox, it is difficult to see how it can
operate without a proper office, despite Keane still claiming to work an
average 60 hour week according to the 2023 Form 990. No public communications have been made by
the president, executive director or the trustees. The ASPR
currently has no active social media accounts.
There are two
separate issues to consider, now that the nonprofit’s headquarters building has been sold. Firstly,
can any illegal actions be laid at the door of ASPR officers, with guilty
parties brought to account? Related to
this point, if any money has been extracted illicitly from the Society can it be recovered,
and, if it is, how can it be safeguarded and used for the purpose for
which the organisation was founded?
Secondly, the
whereabouts of the archive and library should be established, its integrity as
a collection respected, and if the ASPR is unable to manage it, a suitable home
found so that once again it is made available to researchers. Eyes are watching to see if items turn up for
sale on the open market in case there is an attempt to dispose of its contents. A further worry is the possibility that if
rental fees go unpaid for a commercial storage space the contents may be
auctioned off to the highest bidder. This
situation should be a concern of anyone who has a regard for the subject.
If it proves
impossible to resurrect the ASPR as more than an entity which only exists on
paper and a
website, and its leaders are found wanting, observers have
suggested that any funds might be transferred to another organisation in the same
field, such as the Parapsychology Foundation (PF), similarly a New York-based
non-profit. The PF provides an excellent
example of an organisation which sought to ensure the survival of its heritage,
rather than see it as a disposable asset.
Encountering severe financial pressures and a lack of external funding,
the Foundation faced the breakup of its historically important Garrett Research
Library.
Rather than sell
it, however, the PF made the ethical decision to donate it to the Special
collections of the Albin O. Kuhn Library of the University of Maryland
Baltimore County. Announcing the
donation, PF president Lisette Coly stated that “Leaving such a carefully
crafted resource for future students of the paranormal was of overall greater
import than the life of a non-profit organization.” (‘Heartbroken’). The PF’s
board of trustees stand in contrast to those individuals who have charge of the
ASPR.
Nancy
Sondow and Patrice Keane have had an iron grip on the ASPR for over thirty years: Keane has been executive director since 1992, Sondow has been president since
1993. Now is clearly the time for
change. If they truly have its interests
at heart, they and the trustees will make a public statement outlining the
current situation, their plans for the future (including the acquisition of new
premises), the reinstatement of a membership base as outlined on the website,
and setting out a timetable for democratic elections to the positions of
trustees. It is only with a fresh start
that the ASPR will once again become a significant force in psychical research,
but anyone contemplating joining, or rejoining, will want to have confidence
that its leaders have members’ interests at heart, and not their own. Failing
these actions, it should seek to merge with another existing nonprofit
organisation.
Those wishing to express their
dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs
can contact the New York Charities Bureau at charities.bureau@ag.ny.gov.
The Change.org petition still has some way to go to reach its target of 1,000
signatures, so anyone who has yet to sign it is urged to do so. If
anyone has had any kind of communication from the ASPR recently, or has further
information about the situation, please
feel free to email tom.ruffles@yahoo.co.uk. Finally, it would
be heartening if those active in the field and in
the news media stopped sitting on their hands and helped to bring this scandal to the
public’s attention.
Note: Those wishing to examine
the 990 and CR500 financial filings, property
records, and foreclosure court records for
themselves may do so here (forensic accountants particularly welcome):
New York State
Office of the Attorney General:
https://www.charitiesnys.com/RegistrySearch/show_details.jsp?id={10CB3494-0000-C014-BC12-3FDE9A9F4923}
Propublica:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131655205
New York City property records (Borough of
Manhattan, Block 1126, Lot 127): https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/CP/
WebCivil
Supreme, the New York State eCourts database (Case Index No. 850211/2020):
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/webcivil/FCASMain
The
information in
this article was sourced from public records and other publicly available sources
and is believed to be accurate to the best of the authors’ knowledge and
belief.
The ASPR, along with its current president Nancy Sondow, executive
director Patrice Keane, and secretary/co-treasurer Elizabeth Maldonado, were contacted by email individually
and given the opportunity to respond to questions. No reply has been received from any of them after more than a month of waiting. We will update
this post in the event one is received.
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