Community Board 6 Reviews Proposal for Substance Abuse Center in Gowanus

The Youth/Human Services/Education Committee of Community Board 6 held a meeting Wednesday evening to review a proposal by RevCore/NYCATS (New York City Addiction Treatment Services) to open a substance abuse and mental health treatment facility in Gowanus.

According to its website, NYCATS, a RevCore Recovery Center, provides “high-quality services to a much underserved and often overlooked population.” Licensed by the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), NYCATS currently has facilities in Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

Their new center would be located in the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s (DOCCS) parole facility at 15 2nd Avenue, across the canal from Whole Foods. The center would treat parolees who already go to the facility as well as people from the surrounding community.

Held at the Prospect Park YMCA, the meeting kicked off with NYCATS Executive Director, Avraham Schick assuring the small group of attendees that the goal is to provide a community space.

Schick said, “That’s why we’re here… to talk about the kinds of services that we’re providing, and certainly to get the community’s support, but also to express that our intent is for this facility to be truly community-based … We want to have staff from the community. The folks that we’ll be taking care of will be living in the community.”

NYCATS will offer wellness fairs, health education, and programs to engage families. The space would also be available for community events and meetings in an effort to “make that building more a part of the fabric of the community.”

Initially open Monday through Friday from 9:00am – 5:00pm, the center projects 225 weekly visits from 80 patients (half being parolees and half being people from the area) in its first year, with numbers increasing in its second year to 450 weekly visits from 160 patients (while still a mix of parolees and local patients).

When asked about the location choice, Schick responded that the Gowanus site is “relatively accessible” and “the general area is lacking this service… This is why we think we can make a difference specifically in this area.”

Addressing security concerns of residents and local business owners, Schick stated:

“Community safety is our number one goal. It’s why we offer services 365 days a year 7 days a week at our Soho location. It’s about engaging patients in a meaningful way. Making sure they have a place to go if it’s the holidays and they have no place to go … Those kinds of things engage the patient population on a level that is beyond just coming in for a session. It’s about treatment and supporting recovery in a deep way, and what that translates into as far as security is that our patients are coming to a place where there’s hope and healing, a place that they respect.”

NYCATS’ other locations do not have security guards on site, however, the Soho location does have a staff member monitoring the front door, and the Gowanus facility will as well. Schick added that security staff will be added at the new facility if necessary. Regarding the treatment of DOCCS parolees, he pointed out, “they are coming here anyway, so we aren’t increasing the risk to the community by seeing the DOCCS patients.”

Schick promised that community leaders will have access to a designated point person for the Gowanus center for any community concerns including security, cleanliness, traffic, “…whatever you need him to do.” He added, “We need to hear what the needs of the community are so once we get operational we know what we need to do, and can do that from day one.”

After the meeting, two 8th Street residents said that the open dialogue, as well as seeing statistics, helped put their minds at ease. “I had my concerns at the beginning, but they are trying to be as transparent as possible… Any kind of open communication is welcome,” said one of the residents. They both understand that NYCATS is trying to run a business, but it’s also trying to do something good at the same time.

The Youth/Human Services/Education Committee, who hosted the meeting, approved the proposal and will present it to the other Community Board 6 committees on November 9. NYCATS is currently finalizing lease negotiations for the space. If all goes smoothly, the Gowanus NYCATS Center will open in early 2017.

This proposal follows on the heels of the controversial development of the Gowanus parole facility, which opened in 2015 under much scrutiny. Residents and community members said they were not given any advance notice from DOCCS officials about plans to consolidate Brooklyn’s three parole offices into one new location in Gowanus.

Many neighbors were concerned about the facility being located too close to schools and daycare centers, and too far from public transportation, creating traffic congestion. The community group Gowanus United sued DOCCS in 2014. A settlement was reached in which the number of parolees visiting the facility—to meet with their parole officers, get tested for drugs, and access job placement and housing services—was reduced from 6,000 to 2,000 for a minimum of two years.