Date of Award

January 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

School of Public Health

First Advisor

Yusuf Ransome

Second Advisor

Olivia Kachingwe

Abstract

When churches close, opportunities for social cohesion and supporting public healthinterventions are diminished. We examined a methodology to identify church closures in New York City (NYC). We retrieved data from Data Axle on religious organizations using SIC codes (81311006, 81311007, 81311030, 81311034, 81311031, 81311032) as of June 2024 that were categorized as “closed/suspected to be out of business.” We tested the validity of these data using three strategies: 1) calling the institutions, 2) inspecting Google Street View images between 2007- 2023, and 3) visiting a 10% random sample of addresses and taking photographs. We merged the church closure data with selected health data, including self-rated health, binge drinking rate, and the rate of hospitalizations. We then conducted spatial descriptive analyses to examine the relationship between church closures and health outcomes across 59 New York City Community Districts (CDs). We identified 396 records from Data Axle, and using Google Street View images, identified four categories of church closures: 1) buildings remain unchanged, 2) buildings under construction, 3) structure changed, and 4) storefront church changed. The majority of closed churches (n = 41) clustered in central Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. Across CDs, a higher clustering of churches was spatially correlated with higher binge drinking (r = 0.222, I = 0.270, p = 0.01), increased poverty, lower median household income, and increased Black population percentage. Church closings can be measured and validated and should be routinely monitored to advance health equity.

Comments

This thesis is restricted to Yale network users only. It will be made publicly available on 03/16/2027

Download

Share

COinS