City backs drug clinic move to St. Joseph’s

Efforts by state and local politicians to prevent the relocation of a Manhattan substance abuse facility to Fresh Meadows have suffered a blow following the approval by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) of a controversial application that will allow three treatment facilities to coexist within a few blocks.
The application, submitted by Cornerstone Treatment Facilities Network, would relocate an inpatient chemical dependency treatment facility located at 57 West 57th Street in Manhattan into the former St. Joseph’s Hospital at 159-05 Union Turnpike in Fresh Meadows.
“I am very disappointed in the city’s decision,” said Assemblymember Rory Lancman. “The New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) will now review the application for approval and I will continue to make the case to OASAS that the application fails to meet the agency’s guidelines.”
Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm A. Smith recently joined Lancman and City Councilmember James F. Gennaro in calling on OASAS to reject the application. Smith held that Cornerstone had failed to demonstrate public need for the services and a lack of alternative facilities to meet those needs as required for approval.
“There is substantial consensus in the community that the proposed facility is unnecessary, potentially counterproductive and simply does not merit approval on the face of it,” said Smith, who pointed out that Aurora Concept at 78-31 Parsons Boulevard and Queens Hospital Center at 82-68 164th Avenue both operate treatment facilities nearby.
The DOHMH said that it supported the application because, “After careful review, the Health Department determined this service is needed in the community and that the Medical Arts Sanitarium [aka Cornerstone] can appropriately provide it.”
Additionally, Smith called for OASAS to conduct a thorough review of the application, noting that the agency may instead be conducting a less stringent administrative review.
“Residents have raised legitimate concerns which deserve careful consideration during the review process,” Smith said.
As previously reported in The Queens Courier, Lancman and Gennaro charged that Cornerstone made inaccurate and misleading statements in its application by alleging a lack of community opposition to the project and that it would not impact existing facilities.
As The Queens Courier went to press OASAS had not responded to requests for comment. Cornerstone did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
“There are at least ten schools and houses of worship within a few blocks of the proposed site. If ever a location was wrong for another substance abuse treatment facility—let alone a five-story hospital—this is it,” Lancman said.
“I am disappointed the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would give their approval to this ill-conceived proposal. Unfortunately it seems the legitimate concerns raised by the community were not taken into account in the decision making process,” said Smith, who promised he will continue working to prevent the facility from opening.