Pols want drug facility plan denied

Two Queens officials are asking a state agency to revoke their preliminary approval of a Cornerstone substance abuse rehab facility slated to move into the former site of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Fresh Meadows.
Assemblymember Rory Lancman and City Councilmember James Gennaro recently held a press conference saying that Medical Arts, the parent company for Cornerstone, provided misleading statements on an application filed with the state’s Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), and they believe the agency should deny the application.
In Cornerstone’s application, they said there was no community opposition to the project and that no community facilities in the area would be affected by the substance abuse rehab facility - statements that both Gennaro and Lancman refuted.
Lancman sent a letter to Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo of OASAS on January 19, pointing out the series of inaccuracies and misleading statements contained in Cornerstone’s application and requested that due to the cost of the renovations being $7 million, the application should be subjected to a full review rather than just the “preliminary assessment” it is currently undergoing.
“I don’t want to speak for Cornerstone, but when filling out applications they are responsible to do the due diligence,” Gennaro said. “That’s their obligation. Everything on the form [had] better be true, and it’s not. If this is any indication of how we can expect Cornerstone to conduct themselves, we’re very concerned by that that.”
Gennaro also said that this was an over-saturation of this residential neighborhood with this type of facility.
“This is a facility that neither serves nor enhances the community, so we don’t want it,” he said.
In addition, Lancman raised concerns with the lack of input community leaders have in the review process, and he has introduced a bill to address this problem in the future.
Calls to OASAS and to Medical Arts were not returned before The Queens Courier went to press.