BY JESSICA PARKS
Brighton Beach civic gurus
again shot down a proposal
to construct a small mental
health clinic in the neighborhood
— warning of “sex offenders
and child molesters”
invading the area.
“Many of these substance
abusers and alcohol abusers
are sex offenders and child
molesters,” said the local community
board’s vice chair, Jeff
Sanoff, citing from a report
from Clinical Psychology Review.
Two mental health professionals
behind the clinic
— Eddie Simcha and Robert
Stern — appeared before
Community Board 13’s Health
Committee for a second time
on April 15, saying they were
willing to make any reasonable
changes to the plan to get
a communal green light to offer
drug rehabilitation services
at the proposed Center
for New Directions, at 308 Neptune
Ave.
“We are making ourselves
as available as possible,” said
Simcha. “We want to show that
we are here to work with the
community.”
The board fi rst rejected the
proposal in October, but it reappeared
COURIER L 10 IFE, APR. 30-MAY 6, 2021
when a concerned
rabbi of a nearby congregation
reneged his dissent after meeting
with the applicants for a
walkthrough of their other facilities.
“We were very concerned
because this place is right
across the street from us… we
had said we don’t know who
this is going to attract — druggies,
junkies so we were very
concerned,” said Rabbi Efraim
Zaltzman of Young Israel of
Brighton Beach. “Simcha and
Stern met with us in person…
and I even visited one of their
centers and ... they seem like
good people and want to do
good work and help people.”
But the rabbi’s change of
heart did not affect those of
his fellow community members,
who still raised concerns
about the facility’s proximity
to area schools and cited fears
of it drawing those seeking
drug services into the nabe.
“I see a play area over there,
and you are going to have people
coming in with sex offenders
or alcohol abusers or substance
abusers, and it’s not
going to be good for the neighborhood,”
Sanoff said.
The applicants stressed
that their clinic would support
those already living in
their community and claimed
they are planning to minimize
foot traffi c already at this location
to ensure their patients’
privacy in an effort to quell
member’s fears about loitering
around the center.
“Our goal really is to help
address these issues — mental
The current site of the proposed mental health clinic. Google
health issues, suicide is
through the roof, people are
still struggling with the pandemic,”
Simcha said. “Our location
is small on purpose,
we don’t want a lot of foot traffi
c here.”
Still, some board members
casted doubt on the applicants’
claims — while others
questioned the proposal’s reappearance
before the board
and whether this option will be
granted to other applicants.
“I have been attending CB13
meetings for over 20 years both
as a former board member as
former fi rst vice chair and as
a community member” said
Ida Sanoff. “I can’t remember
when a license application of
any sort was voted down in the
committee and then there was
a do-over.”
The board’s chair, Lucy
Acevedo, told members she
will allow applicants a second
chance if new information
arises — as in this situation,
the rabbi’s new approval. “We
will do it on an on-to-on basis,”
she said.
The board’s decision is only
advisory, though it is unclear
whether the applicants plan to
move forward.
IT’S STILL A ‘NO’
Board shoots down Brighton Beach mental
health clinic proposal in unprecedented revote
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