Benedetto and Gjonaj
also noted that the area has
several drug treatment programs
already actively operating
in the area, including
the Montefi ore Wellness Center
on Waters Place.
Montefi ore’s facility provides
psychiatric staff and
dispenses medication, according
to the letter.
“Another factor that concerns
us, is the community’s
limited police resources,” the
legislators said.
It described the 45th Precinct
as having the smallest
police force in the Bronx and
the largest geographical coverage
area of any precinct in
the city. Benedetto and Gjonaj
added that “whenever a squad
car is dispatched to this location,
other sectors will be left
in peril by the thinned police
coverage.”
Meanwhile, the plan to acquire
an 822 program license
and not have an on-site psychiatrist
at the facility has
raised objections from the
Throggs Neck Community
Action Partnership, a local
substance abuse prevention
program.
Th organization wrote to
Senator Alessandra Biaggi,
expressing that they believe a
treatment facility in Throggs
Neck would be benefi cial, if
done the right way.
“Many people who suffer
from a substance use disorder
also suffer from a mental
health disorder,” the letter
pointed out. “Without the diagnosis
or support of mental
health treatment, this scenario
is the perfect storm for
someone to ‘relapse,’” it continued.
The TNCAP letter also advised
the senator that quality
alcohol and substance abuse
programs “should also offer
psychiatric evaluations and
treatment as necessary, on
site.”
It also said that licensed
facilities should also have accrued
years of credibility and
reputation prior to an expansion
such as this.
“There is a need to provide
treatment to our community,
but we kindly suggest you explore
other options,” the letter
concluded.
An individual with years
of drug counseling experience
sized up the Miracle City
plan very simply: without a
psychiatrist on the premises
this plan is nothing more
than a real estate deal, referring
to the big bucks the property
owner will receive from
the state in rent.
Biaggi has not taken a formal
stance on the facility as
of press time.
“I am fi elding comments
and concerns from the community
regarding 2800 Bruckner
Boulevard,” she said.
“I am committed to both
the public safety of my constituents,
as well as addressing
the opioid crisis that
plagues our community,” she
concluded.
‘Close Rikers & Sink the Barge’
(l-r) Panelists Rev. Wendy Calderon Payne, Bronx Connect; Harvey Murphy, JLUSA organizer; Marvin Mayfi eld, JLUSA leader; Starr Blue,
Beyond Rosie’s Campaign; Darren Mack, JLUSA organizer and Sekou Shakur, Bronx Connect. Photo by Kasey Rodriguez
lapidated facility for a nonviolent
offense, Mayfi eld
knows fi rsthand why NYC
needs to ‘sink the boat.’
“I think the crime
should fi t the punishment.
Being forced on the barge
is a cruel and unusual one,”
said Mayfi eld. “Once you arrive
it takes about a day and
a half before you can get to
a bed, if you can call it that,
it’s really just a metal slat,”
he added.
Mayfi eld explained how
the barge was intended to
be a temporary solution for
prison overcrowding during
the 1980s, caused by the
war on drugs.
“It’s open still in 2019,
that’s not temporary,” he
continued.
Other inhumane conditions
that Mayfi eld cited as
part of a larger abusive culture
were: claustrophobic
spaces, a lack of fresh air
and having windows that
were ‘just for show’ and
couldn’t be open, in addition
to strip searches where
unwanted touching was
‘unavoidable.’
The closure of the Bain
facility is contingent on the
phase out of Rikers Island
according to Mayor’s Offi ce
of Criminal Justice deputy
director Dana Kaplan.
“Honestly, if you get everyone
off that boat it’ll
sink itself,” Mayfi eld said,
joking about its poor condition.
He and the other panelists
discussed similar criminal
justice issues, such as
the importance of cash bail
reform and ways to reduce
the inmate population.
Also discussed that evening
was whether or not the
320 Concord Avenue site was
the appropriate location for
the new prison facility.
The executive director
of Bronx Connect, Reverend
Wendy Calderon supports
the concept of the
Mott Haven jail and the
borough-based jail facilities,
she said.
“We need Rikers to
close down, we have a commitment
from the current
administration and there’s
no guarantee we will still
have that with the next
mayor,” Calderon said.
She also called for the
approach to incarceration
to be focused more towards
mental health treatment
and reform rather than
locking up inmates, saying
that Rikers Island is “the
largest mental health institution
in the city.”
That meeting came before
a land use hearing by
Community Board 1 on
Thursday, May 16.
Meanwhile, on the
other side of the battle
over the Mott Haven jail,
Diego Beekman Mutual
Housing CEO Arline Parks
questioned the positions of
those Bronx electeds who
support the 320 Concord
Avenue jail proposal at a
public forum, held at Lincoln
Hospital on Wednesday,
May 15.
Parks along with Borough
President Ruben Diaz,
Jr. and several others, have
publicly stated that while
they support the closure of
Rikers Island, they are not
in favor of the Mott Haven
site for its replacement jail.
www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY May 19, 2019 4
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MEMBER:
from Page 1
from Page 1
Benedetto, Gjonaj, TNCAP say
‘no’ to 2800 Bruckner drug plan
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
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