Feb5
State Rep. Tony Payton at the February Frankford Civic meeting.
It has become something of a tradition at Frankford Civic Association meetings in the past year.
The first 15 or 20 minutes of the meetings, held in a conference room on the second floor of the old Frankford Hospital, are devoted to typical zoning issues, event announcements and new community concerns. Then something changes.
The meeting becomes more of a conversation and the topic is always the same: recovery homes.
True to form, it happened again Thursday night. Only three or four residents were in attendance, outnumbered by media and legislative aides and almost doubled by the association’s executive board, but the conversation was no less lively.
continue reading »
Jan8
The futures of two large neighborhood institutions were discussed at Thursday’s Frankford Civic Association meeting.
First, the now vacant Salvation Army building, on Frankford Avenue near Unity Street, is up for sale, recycling residents’ fear over recovery homes that have beleaguered Frankford for years. Second, the latest chapter in the harried sale of the Frankford Y was announced, including a sale date that passed without action.
continue reading »
Oct12
The backyard of Frankford resident Majorie Rivera's neighbors, where she says she's seen drug deals take place.
It was early afternoon on Feb. 28, 2009 when Frankford resident Marjorie Rivera got an unexpected scene. She was getting ready to celebrate her wedding anniversary with her husband when they noticed a moving van outside of their two-story home. That chilly February day would be the first time Rivera would learn that the house next door was being turned into a recovery home for men.
As a mother of two daughters and aunt of many nieces, Rivera panicked as the thought of living right next to a recovery home settled into her brain.
“I’m thinking, ‘Oh wow, I got problems. These are all men. Recovery home? Well that’s for drugs. And don’t courts usually send people to them? What if these guys did something?’ I don’t want that next door to me,” she said. continue reading »
Oct2
The Frankford Civic Association board at its Oct. 1, 2009 meeting at the Frankford Hospital.
The 15th police district is often unresponsive to resident concerns about quality of life crimes, particularly so-called recovery homes, according to an impassioned call to action from state Rep. Tony Payton’s chief of staff at last night’s Frankford Civic meeting.
“We have to harass the police to get them to harass the criminals,” said Jorge Santana, Payton’s top legislative staffer.
Santana’s call came after another of the neighborhood’s monthly civic meetings broke down into a open venting of frustration over the ongoing battle with private boarding houses that are known citywide for selling themselves as places of recovery for people suffering from an array of addictions and instead devolving into havens for drug activity.
continue reading »
