Angry residents attend town hall
opposing two methadone clinics
BY JASON COHEN
Nearly 1,000 Pelham Parkway/Allerton
residents came out to oppose a
rumored methadone clinic at Community
Board 11’s town hall on Thursday,
November 7.
Because of the size of the crowd, the
meeting was split into two one-hour sessions.
While elected offi cials promptly assured
the audience that the proposed
plan by Carnegie Hill Institute to put
a methadone abuse treatment clinic at
2500 Williamsbridge is dead and there
has been no application for 2440 Esplanade,
the evening was fi lled with yelling,
interrupting, rudeness and downright
concern.
The community board didn’t anticipate
the large turnout. Residents waited
hours in the pouring rain to be heard.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 4 OVEMBER 15-21, 2019 BTR
Cm Mark Gjonaj tells people the plans for a
methadone clinic are dead.
Schneps Media/ Jason Cohen
Residnets attend the town hall on a propsoed methadone clinic. Schneps Media/ Jason Cohen
By 7 p.m., the room at the NY Institute
for Special Education at 999 Pelham
Parkway North was fi lled to capacity.
Local residents and community activist
Minister Irene Estrada helped organize
the town hall.
Over the past few months, she spread
the word on social media, and got the
word out about the planned clinic.
She noted people are elated that
there are no plans to bring a clinic to
the community.
Councilman Mark Gjonaj and Assemblywoman
Nathalia Fernandez did
their best to calm everyone down.
“I want you all to know that this is a
real community issue,” the councilman
said. “People worked behind the scenes
and in front of the scenes to make sure
that it will not happen.”
As Gjonaj spoke he was constantly
interrupted by the angry audience. He
stressed that he knows why they were
there and supports them 100 percent.
However, he acknowledged opioids
are killing more people than suicides,
guns and car accidents combined, so
providing people a place for help is important.
“There’s a real need for clinics to
help with substance abuse,” Gjonaj said.
“Where they put them is the problem.”
In fact, Assemblyman Michael
Benedetto introduced a bill in August
that would prohibit the approval of licenses
for alcoholism programs, substance
abuse programs, and chemical
dependence programs within 500 feet
of a school, public park or church, synagogue
or other place of worship.
Gjonaj reiterated that no state application
has been made for 2440 Esplanade
and 2500 Williamsbridge is dead.
He noted that this does not mean that
others will not try and come into the
neighborhood.
In September, Carnegie Hill Institute
presented a proposal at Community
Board 11’s Health and Social Services
Committee regarding their intention
to open a drug treatment center in the
one-story corner property on Williamsbridge
Road between Hone and Mace
avenues.
CB 11 already has nine active and
certifi ed chemical dependence treatment
centers within its boundaries,
with another located just outside.
Fernandez, who was also interupted
while she spoke, said she has steadfastly
fought alongside the neighborhood
against another methadone clinic.
“I care about this community and
about what you need and want,” Fernandez
said.
Among the angry residents were
Daniela DiMaggio and Marcia Lewis.
DiMaggio. They stressed there is a need
for more homes, not clinics.
“Enough medical buildings and facilities,”
DiMaggio shouted. “We don’t
want a methadone clinic in our neighborhood.”
Lewis told the Bronx Times that
people are pissed off because they don’t
want another clinic in their backyard.
This area of the Bronx is already overcrowded,
she stressed.
“If not for the grassroots effort, nobody
would know what’s going on,” she
stated. “We do not need people coming
from outside areas walking through
neighborhoods where kids still play in
the street, near schools, near houses of
worship, near stores and where people
Residents attend the town hall abou the methadone clinic. Schneps Media/ Jason Cohen go shopping.”