TARGETS FOR ‘SHOOTING’
Stroller-mom ire at injection-site plan
Mayor de Blasio on Friday revealed four sites where he plans to open controversial drug-injection centers — and they are near schools and in the heart of stroller-mom territory.
The proposed sites — where addicts would be allowed to inject illegal drugs under supervision — are located on the Park Slope-Boerum Hill border in Brooklyn, in Hell’s Kitchen and Washington Heights in Manhattan and in Longwood in The Bronx. And residents are fuming. “It’s not a good idea at all. We have kids to raise,” said Keisha Brandon, a 28-year-old mother of two from Park Slope.
“Nobody should be able to shoot up legally. That’s saying to kids that people are allowed to do it, so it’s a possibility for you.”
Even recovering addicts warned about the move.
“People will line up in the streets,” said Marg Flynn, a 72year-old recovering addict who lives near the Hell’s Kitchen site and has been sober for 33 years.
“It’s already God-awful here on Ninth Avenue. It’s a high-pedestrian area off the Theater District, lots of restaurants. If a junkie is in need of a fix, there are plenty of opportunities to rob people, especially on weekends.”
The supervised sites, which could be changed later, would be set up in existing needle-exchange centers and be part of a one-year overdose-prevention pilot program.
De Blasio and other proponents say the facilities would give drug users a safe place to inject heroin amid a national opioid crisis.
They argue that the sites would move drug users and their needles indoors, away from park benches and fast-food restrooms.
Answering questions on Twitter Friday, mayoral spokesman Eric Phillips said people who shoot up at the centers would still be barred from using drugs outside — but added that they would be allowed to carry their dope back and forth on the street without being subjected to police searches.
Still, a law-enforcement source wondered if, under the program, anyone found with drugs on the street could simply tell cops, “Hey, I was just heading to a facility.”
For the plan to move forward, de Blasio needs authorization from the state Health Department, district attorneys and City Council members in each pilot district.
DAs Cy Vance Jr. of Manhattan and Eric Gonzalez of Brooklyn have already committed to the project, and the other parties have shown signs of support.
The Park Slope-Boerum Hill site is on Fourth Avenue, stroller-mom territory and around the corner from Barclays Center.
The Hell’s Kitchen site sits a block from a building housing five schools, while the Longwood one is around the corner from PS 333.
Maria Quinones, a 42-year-old home health aide from Washington Heights, said she doesn’t want her kids exposed to drug abuse more than they already are.
“I have two young children I already walk a block out of the way just so my kids don’t have to see that when we go by,’’ she said.
“I understand that people should be safe and need better care. [But] this neighborhood has suffered enough.”
A number of US cities, including Philadelphia and San Francisco, are taking steps toward creating injection facilities, but none have yet opened. Dozens have opened in Europe, Canada and Australia.