By Bob Harris
The New York chapter of the Association for the Help of Retarded Children, in conjunction with the New York Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, has proposed setting up a group home for mildly to moderately retarded adults in the Fresh Meadows area covered by the West Cunningham Park Civic Association.
Residents of 194th Street crowded into a hearing last month to express their concerns about the proposal. Some feared their children would be in danger just because six residents (two men and four women) would be housed on their block. Although one of the prospective residents of the home, a pleasant-looking middle-aged lady who works in K-Mart, was introduced to the group, they still seemed concerned.
One must understand the anxiety of people who have purchased a home in a residential community and then discover that a community facility will be built near them. A New York City Zoning ordinance passed in 1961 permits such facilities to be built
