Many residents and community leaders attended the rally against a drug treatment facility. Jewel Webber
Throggs Neck continues to clash with Miracle City’s drug proposal
from Page 1
that Miracle City is a good
standing merchant. (The
merchants association) is
about economics, not politics,”
he said.
Even though he supports
the current drug treatment
proposal, he explained how
he and the TNMA thwarted
Miracle City’s earlier attempts
to install a hyperbaric
chamber and a pharmacy
at the facility, citing
concerns about its impact
on nearby schools and the
surrounding residential
area.
“(Miracle City hasn’t)
done anything wrong yet,”
he said.
None of 2800 Bruckner
Boulevard’s current tenants
have voiced support for
the Miracle City proposal.
On the other side of the
battle, opponents of Miracle
City fear that the clinic
would start distributing
drugs in the future as per
its license.
Pelham Bay activist
Egidio Sementelli, who has
been leading the opposition
and organizing protests
against Miracle City met
with Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez along
with others to share his and
a dozen other attendee’s
concerns about the facility.
“It was a very productive
meeting,” Sementelli
said mentioning that Ocasio
Cortez is still reviewing
the situation.
Federal money would be
allocated to Miracle City
if its license is approved
by OASAS, Sementelli explained.
He believes that the selected
location of Miracle
City is inappropriate and
will lead to an increase in
crime and other illicit activity
in the area.
“Facilities like this unfortunately
bring unwanted
and dangerous behavior,”
Sementelli said, noting
that being on the corner
of a residential street, in a
neighborhood surrounded
by schools, would only invite
such criminal behavior
into the core of the Throggs
Neck community.
“Places like Miracle
City belong on Waters Place
where there aren’t schools
close by and no residents
in the immediate area,” he
said.
Sementelli also used the
example of Waters Place’s
frequent issues of “loitering,
panhandling, drug activity
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (l) meets with Egidio Sementelli (c) and other community
stakeholders regarding Miracle City. Courtesy of Egidio Sementilli
and shoplifting” to
reiterate his stand that Miracle
City doesn’t belong at
2800 Bruckner Boulevard.
“It’s not like our concerns
are baseless,” Sementelli
continued.
The next protest he has
planned against the drug
treatment facility will be on
Saturday, August 10 at 2800
Bruckner Boulevard.
The Bronx Times Reporter
contacted Miracle
City for comment but did
not receive a response by
press time.
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