QUEENS — A methadone clinic that was quietly moved to Hillside Avenue in order to make room for a new development near the AirTrain station in downtown Jamaica, has brought a number of quality of life issues to its new location, local residents and business owners said.
The clinic, run by Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, was moved to 175-20 Hillside Ave. more than a year ago, when the building previously housing it, on the corner of Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue, was demolished in order to be replaced by The Crossing, a massive two-tower mixed-use complex that will bring 669 affordable housing units to downtown Jamaica.
The new location, which operates from Monday to Saturday, is surrounded by a number of apartment buildings, a park, and several schools, including P.S. 95 Eastwood, I.S. 238 Susan B. Anthony School and The Mary Louis Academy, locals said.
“It’s a bad place for it because a lot of young school kids go by,” said Joe Moretti, a local resident and activist, who also founded "Clean Up Jamaica Queens," a blog highlighting problems in the neighborhood.
Moretti, who wrote several blog posts about the clinic, said its patients often litter the sidewalk, behave in a noisy way, argue, and hang out for hours in front of local businesses and at nearby Major Mark Park intimidating residents.
"It’s been awful since they placed it there," Moretti said, calling it “another slap in the face" to Jamaica.
Gloria Gonzales, who lives nearby on Wexford Terrace, agreed.
“This area has become very sketchy,” she said, adding that she has been trying to avoid walking by the building since the clinic opened.
“At first I didn’t know what it was, because there is no sign. I don’t understand why it was placed in the middle of our neighborhood,” she added.
Local business owners said the facility has created a slew of problems for them as well.
“We have a severe problem at the location,” said Jahangir Kabir, a district supervisor for White Castle, who came to a 103rd Precinct Community Council meeting last month to complain about issues at the restaurant located directly next to the clinic.
One of them, he said, is that people have been “selling pills" in the area.
“All sort of things are happening there,” he said. “It’s really not a nice place to bring your family around.”
A clerk at a deli located near the clinic, who did not want his name to be used, also expressed frustration.
“They are hanging out inside, stealing candy and other things,” he said. “We have to chase them out.”
Inspector John Cappelmann, commanding officer of the 103rd Precinct, said that the precinct has held a number of meetings with the clinic and that the NYPD’s Queens Narcotics Unit and neighborhood coordination officers assigned to monitor the area are also involved.
And while Cappelmann acknowledged that prescription drugs seem to be sold illegally in the area, there has not been “a large increase in measurable crime," such as robbery, grand larceny or car break-ins, he said.
“But that’s not to say there isn’t a major quality of life issue,” he said. “Obviously it’s still a problem.”
Cappelmann also said that shortly after the clinic opened on Hillside Avenue, a man was shot nearby following a dispute that occurred inside the facility.
The clinic did not return phone calls seeking comment.
