An open letter to state Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan:
We are writing to request your intervention to combat an upsurge of 911 emergency calls from the part of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus south of Union Turnpike in eastern Queens.
According to reports received at a meeting of affected community stakeholders, elected officials and the NYPD, on June 27, at the borough president’s office, the number of calls to 911 from the south campus have increased by a staggering 72 percent this year over the corresponding period last year.
This number is in contrast to the surrounding community, where levels of 911 calls remain stable from a year ago. It also presents an unnecessary challenge to an already-strained local precinct.
We, acting with and on behalf of our constituents, urge your office to take steps to remove from the southern part of the Creedmoor campus all people who are not associated with programs on the campus. We believe this can be accomplished by sealing off all entrances to the campus and requiring a central identification checkpoint for admittance to the campus.
The southern part of the Creedmoor campus has large areas of open space with overgrown weeds and trees, derelict buildings and numerous havens for criminal activity. It is unacceptable that these conditions have been allowed to flourish.
We are anxious to hear from you on a plan on how OMH will close off the south campus and other measures it will take to address the level of 911 calls.
Helen Marshall
Borough President
Queens
David Weprin
State Assemblyman
(D-Little Neck)
Mark Weprin
City Councilman
(D-Oakland Gardens)
