ALL IN FAVOR
Bronx panel groups: ‘Close Rikers & the Sink the Barge’
Community members raising their hands to being affected by having family members who have been to Rikers Island or are
currently there. Photo by Kasey Rodriguez
Activists demand Pel Bay Park road fl ooding fi x
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
When it rains in Pelham Bay
Park, it pours, and then sometimes
remains for days.
Local activists are voicing concerns
about pools of water that are
remaining on park roadways long
after rainstorms end, encroaching
on travel lanes.
Roads including Shore Road,
Park Drive, Orchard Beach Road
and City Island Road at various locations
saw pooling water remaining
after spring rains, sometimes
creating hazardous conditions for
motorists, cyclists and pedestrians,
according to park activists.
“Roadways in Pelham Bay Park
often fl ood, sometimes in predictable
places,” said Beverly Jones, an
activist from City Island.
She cited an example of standing
water on Park Drive between
Orchard Beach’s entrance and City
Island Circle that encroaches from
both sides of the roadway, often forcing
motorists to change lanes or
even drive over the double yellow
lines to avoid the deluge.
Standing water also hampers
travel in the left lane of the road
that extends from an exit off the
Hutchinson River Parkway to Bartow
Circle.
City Island resident John Doyle
has reached out to the NYC Department
of Transportation about roadways
in the park.
The department responded to
Doyle in a letter that stated DOT
“appreciated the concerns raised
and will make every effort to address
the issue,” and that a case has
been opened with recommendations
by Thursday, May 30.
“We had a very rainy April, but
this has been a concern for a long
time,” said Doyle, adding there
needs to be more investment in the
infrastructure of parkway roads.
Since the roads would be used in
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an emergency evacuation of City Island,
quality needs to be improved,
said Doyle, with Jones adding that
climate change is making a mandatory
evacuation, like that one which
happened during Superstorm
Sandy, more likely.
On Shore Road between Bartow
Circle and the county line, brothers
James and Tommy Breen have
cataloged the fl ooding conditions
through photography and videography,
and are advocating for improved
infrastructure for this part
of Shore Road.
“The area of Shore Road that
Benedetto, Gjonaj,
TNCAP say ‘no’
to 2800 Bruckner
drug plan
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto
and Councilman Mark Gjonaj
sent a joint letter to Albany opposing
a proposed drug treatment facility
at 2800 Bruckner Boulevard.
Miracle City recently announced
its intent to operate a state-licensed
822 behavioral treatment counseling
service at the Throggs Neck
building, which has been the subject
of local protests. Another rally is set
for this Saturday, May 18 at noon.
They plan to lease 50 percent of
one fl oor in the stand-alone 2-story
offi ce building.
As an 822 program, regulated by
the NYS Offi ce of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse Services, Miracle
City would be providing counseling
services to clients affl icted with
eating and drinking disorders, and
drug addictions.
Even though a representative of
Miracle City indicated its current
application does not include dispensing
any narcotics, it could do
so at a later date by fi ling additional
paperwork to the proper regulating
governmental agencies, community
leaders learned.
Benedetto and Gjonaj’s letter to
OASAS Commissioner Arlene Gonzalez
Sanchez, addressed a number
of concerns about the nature and location
of the facility.
They cited the facility’s remote
location on a one-way street as a major
factor for their disapproval. The
area’s poor transportation options
and its proximity to a neighborhood
comprised entirely of one-, two- and
three-family homes, elementary
schools and churches, where paramount
in withholding their support.
“A program called These Our
Treasures, a neighbor of the proposed
clinic that works with special
needs children ages 3 to 5, could be
in jeopardy if the application is approved,”
the letter stated.
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Bronx advocates are pushing
the city to close Rikers Island
and Hunts Point’s Vernon C. Bain
jail barge by its 2027 goal, if not
quicker.
Three community groups
known as Bronx Connect, Bronx
Defenders and the Close Rikers
Campaign held a community forum
about the jail system in Betances
Center at 547 E. 146th Street
on Monday, May 13.
A panel of criminal justice reform
advocates spoke to the nearly
full community center. Each
speaker had spent time on either
Rikers Island or on the Bain jail
barge, sharing personal experiences
that supported the planned
shutdown.
One panelist, Marvin Mayfi eld
had protested the jail barge with
Councilman Rafael Salamanca,
Jr. in 2018.
After spending time in the di-
Your Neighborhood — Your News® May 19, 2019
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