Community rallies against substance treatment center
FDNY and USMC hero Christopher Slutman laid to rest
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, M BT AY 22-28, 2015 3
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
Miracle City, a health-related
business, that set up at
2800 Bruckner Boulevard in
Throggs Neck in 2017, is drawing
community ire after announcing
their intention to
begin what’s known as an 822
counseling program for those
suffering from behavioral disorders,
which includes smoking,
drinking and to opioid
drug addiction.
An 822 program, which is
regulated by the NYS Offi ce
of Alcoholism and Substance
Abuse Services, provides
counseling services only – as
Miracle City says theirs will
- and cannot dispense medicines
that wean substance
abusers off drugs without additional
approvals, which they
do not have at the time, and according
to the program’s operators,
will not be seek.
Even though Miracle City
explicitly told the Bronx
Times and others that they do
not plan to dispense medicine,
starting a counseling program
would be a fi rst step towards
full-blown drug treatment in
what is mostly a low-density
residential community, community
members believe.
Longtime resident Brianna Cohn (l)
and Egidio Sementilli reiterate the
details of what Miracle City plans
to bring to the community.
After Andrea Corson, a Photo by Fernando Justiniano
partner in Miracle City, provided
details about the operation
at a Community Board 10
Health and Human Services
Committee meeting on Tuesday,
April 23, about 65 residents
rallied outside the proposed
location on Saturday,
April 27 in a show of unity
against the plan.
Edgido Sementilli, a local
activist, claims that there are
already 45 similar programs
in the borough and the “the
placement of the drug program
at (the) location is just
not right.”
Residents living near the
site had an opportunity to express
their opposition to the
Miracle City venture during
the boisterous rally - chanting
“Throggs Neck Strong –
we won’t have it.”
Attendee Anibal Vazquez
said he was concerned for students
attending These Our
Treasures, M.S. 101 and P.S.
304.
“We are concerned about
the safety of the teachers
and the students when they
walk around the area,” said
Vazquez, noting that children
frequently walk to and from
school.
Vazquez said that based
on his understanding, an 822
program allows a provider the
“ability to start with counseling
and then hire a nurse and
start dispensing methadone
and other substances for those
seeking treatment.”
He said he is not against
helping people who have issues
with substance abuse,
but that the Bruckner Boulevard
location isn’t right for
this type of facility.
“When I fi rst moved into
the area in 1988 that building
wasn’t there; it was a gas station,”
said Vazquez. “For that
building to go from being a gas
station to a building serving
addicts in an area with single
family homes just doesn’t
make sense.”
Another resident who is a
staunch opponent of the plan,
Deborah Teska, has a close
family member addicted to
drugs, and said she very concerned
that the program’s clients
will congregate in the
area, like the Montefi ore Hospital
run methadone clinic on
Waters Place,, driving down
property values and creating
safety concerns.
“It upsets me…that you
own a home and you have
to lose your investment and
move,” said Teska.
Teska added: “It is not
right. You cannot plop this in
a residential area where you
have (several) schools.”
A cross-section of residents protested on Saturday, April 27 against
Miracle City’s plan for a substance abuse counseling program inside of
2800 Bruckner Boulevard. Photo by Fernando Justiniano
Continued on page 80
Firefi ghters were stationed at Jerome Avenue and East 174th Street waiting by the Cross Bronx Expressway for
fallen Marine FDNY fi refi ghter Slutman to return home. Photo by Aracelis Batista
BY ALEX MITCHELL
One of America’s bravest
will not be forgotten.
Christopher Slutman, the
Bronx-based, 15-year FDNY
member and U.S.Marine
Corps Staff Sergeant killed by
a Taliban roadside bomb near
in Afghanistan was returned
to the borough for a wake at
Lucchese Funeral Home in
Morris Park on Thursday,
April 25.
Prior to that, Slutman’s remains
were fi rst returned to
his family at Dover Air Force
Delaware, the state where he
had lived while serving in the
FDNY.
A massive procession of
fi refi ghters and military took
over I-95 from Delaware to
the Bronx on Monday, April
22 when he was brought to funeral
home before being laid
to rest in Arlington National
Cemetery on Tuesday, April
30.
Just about every overpass
in the three-state procession
was crowded with fi refi ghters
from local fi rehouses waving
American fl ags, along with civilians,
honoring the 43-year
old Slutman for his ultimate
sacrifi ce.
Before being deployed with
the Marines, Slutman was stationed
out of Claremont’s Ladder
27. His ladder company is
nicknamed ‘The Bronx Express’
because it sits just beneath
the Cross Bronx Expressway
near Park Avenue.
Since Slutman was a child
in Delaware, he had dreamed
of being a fi refi ghter, following
in the footsteps and boots
of his own father, Fletcher.
Christopher was the father
of three girls that he raised
with his wife Shannon.
One of Slutman’s most notable
acts of heroism came in
the very early hours of Tuesday,
July 23, 2013 when he successfully
rescued a woman
who was trapped inside her
bedroom in a 7th fl oor unit at
320 Morris Avenue in Mott Haven.
“Something is burning on
the seventh fl oor,” was the
only heads up he received
prior to valiantly crawling beneath
thick black smoke and
fl ames to make the incredible
rescue.
Slutman was joined by
Mayor de Blasio when was
awarded the Fire Chiefs Association
Memorial Medal the
following year on behalf of his
bravery for the daring Mott
Haven rescue.
When de Blasio attended
the evening session of Slutman’s
wake, the mayor spoke
with Shannon, telling her
what a hero her husband truly
was for not only the city but
country as well.
The elevated section of
the Bruckner Expressway
was shut down the following
morning for Slutman’s funeral
procession into Manhattan.
NYPD motorcycles rolled
through the empty highway
one by one, preceding the mass
of FDNY and Port Authority
vehicles and trucks that had
Continued on page 80