JUST SO NO!
TN Community rallies against substance treatment center
A group of local residents came out to say no having a Miracle City substance abuse program in their community.
Photo by Fernando Justiniano
Community rally opposes Parkchester shelter plan
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
In what was just one of several
planned events concerning a proposed
165-person men’s employment
shelter just outside of Parkchester,
residents and local clergy rallied
and held a press conference in front
of the proposed site on Thursday,
April 25.
They again rallied against the
shelter site, which will be operated
under a NYC Department of Homeless
Services contract by Samaritan
Daytop Village, in a follow-up gathering
on Monday, April 29.
Additionally, Senator Luis Sepulveda
and Assemblywoman Karines
Reyes are hosting a town hall
with DHS and Samaritan scheduled
to take place on Friday, May 3 at St.
Helena Church from 6:30 p.m. to 8
p.m.
Since news of the shelter, slated
for the busy commercial corridor at
2008 Westchester Avenue, became
widespread there’s been an uproar
against the ‘as-of-right’ project.
Senator Ruben Diaz, who was a
central fi gure in the April 25 protest,
said he would support a shelter
for a different population, but not
one for single men.
“We would not oppose a family
shelter, let us be clear,” said Diaz,
adding that he feels that black and
Hispanic communities in particular
are oversaturated with homeless
shelters.
The senator said that he was concerned
about various schools and a
library being located nearby.
The senator said he believes that
woman and children could be especially
vulnerable, noting that it
is unknown whether the men who
would live in the employment shelter
(one in which they would be supported
as they work or seek work)
would congregate, are just out of
jail, or convicted sex offenders.
The city closed 23 cluster sites
Continued on Page 4
in Diaz’s Council District 18, and
all were sites for families, said Ken
Burgos, an aide to Diaz.
Since the city tries to keep families
in the same zip codes when they
move from one type of facility to
another, there should be a smooth
transition to family shelters, said
Burgos.
Attendees at the April 25th rally
expressed concern about safety and
quality of life issues if the men’s
shelter is open, chanting at the rally
“no shelter here!”
Wanda Ortiz, who attended the
rally, said she comes to a adult day
FDNY and
USMC hero
Christopher
Slutman laid
to rest
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.
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
Your Neighborhood — Your News® May 5, 2019
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