[Ed. note: this post has been updated from its original version.]

The town hall-style meeting at Church of the Mediator featuring State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., which had drawn the attention of pro-tenant housing advocates who were planning to hold a protest outside of the meeting, has been rescheduled because of safety concerns, said Diego Delgado-Miller, the head pastor of the Kingsbridge area church.

A new date has not yet been determined, Delgado-Miller said.

When asked why the church had decided to reschedule the meeting, Delgado-Miller offered a short chuckle as if he was amused by all the attention the meeting was receiving. “We wanted to make sure it was more secure, more peaceful,” he said. “We wanted people to feel safe.”

Activists from the Real Rent Reform campaign, which includes several pro-tenant housing groups, including the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and Housing Here and Now, had planned to protest outside of the church because the meeting was limited to an invite-only crowd and they wanted to highlight Espada’s inaction on several key pieces of pro-tenant housing legislation.

Delgado-Miller said he had invited Espada to speak at his church, “Because I wanted to people to know him and what he is doing.”

Michael McKee of Housing Here and Now also wanted people to know what Espada is doing, or not doing, as Chairman of the Senate’s housing committee.