Property owner puts kibosh on sale to ‘822 ‘drug clinic
that he has rejected the offer
by Carnegie Hill Institute for
his property,” stated Cruz.
“Dr. Golden also asked me to
share that he does not intend
on leaving and wishes to provide
medical care for the Pelham
Bay and Westchester
Square community for years
to come.”
Golden plans on staying in
the community for the next
fi ve to ten years, and had only
placed his property on the
market to determine its worth,
said Cruz.
Golden, after initially declining
to comment, confi rmed
he has no intent to sell.
“I am not entertaining
any sale at the moment,” said
Golden. “That’s the bottom
line.”
Waterbury-LaSalle Community
Association activists
were elated that the CB
10 meeting, where residents
voiced opposition to the drug
treatment program, sometimes
called an 822 program,
yielded swift results.
Mary Jane Musano, a
TAKE ON EVERYTHING
NEW YORK CITY
HAS TO OFFER TODAY
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A planned drug-counseling
program will have to look for a
different location.
Carnegie Hill Institute, a
Manhattan-based program
that expressed interest in
purchasing a Waterbury-La-
Salle building in a commercial
corridor will have to look
elsewhere after the property
owner announced he would
not entertain their offer to
purchase the property.
The news came after a
Community Board 10 Health
and Human Services Committee
meeting on Tuesday,
June 18 where community
members met with a Carnegie
Hill representative and a
representative of the NYS Offi
ce of Alcohol and Substance
Abuse Services concerning a
siting of the program at 3134
E. Tremont Avenue.
The next day, on Wednesday,
June 19, the owner of the
property, Dr. Owen Golden,
visited Matt Cruz, CB 10 district
manager, and told him
that he had changed his mind
and he was not going to sell the
property to Carnegie Hill.
“Dr. Golden told me, (and)
asked me to convey publicly,
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board member who is also the
WLCA president, said that the
news energized many in the
community.
“I left the meeting on a
high,” said Musano. “I hope
that this makes people feel empowered.
If you come together
and get knowledgeable and be
respectful, you can accomplish
what you think you can’t.”
Musano also said that the
representative from OASAS
proved especially informative
in explaining to the community
that the state agency
doesn’t seek out applicants
and that while not mandatory,
the state agency expects that
any group treating patients
through an 822 program usually
dispenses medicine, a major
sticking point for the community.
Musano said that she was
impressed by the amount of
information presented at the
meeting.
“Think of what would happen
to this neighborhood if
we weren’t vigilant and all of
these programs popped up all
over the place,” said Musano.
She is concerned that drug
treatment programs that dispense
Methadone and other
similar medications merely
substitute one drug for another,
but don’t solve the patient’s
underlying substance
abuse issues.
Andrew Chirico, another
WLCA leader, said he opposed
the Carnegie Hill idea because
he believes that clinical settings
such as those at hospitals
are a more appropriate
location to do drug counseling
and treatment.
Calls to Carnegie Hill
weren’t returned as of press
time.
Community members watch, listen, voice their concerns and ask questions at Community Board 10’s Health
and Human Services committee meeting on Tuesday, June 18. The comments and questions concerned a possible
drug facility on East Tremont Avenue -- a idea that was shelved the next day. Photo by Jewel Webber
/nyc