WPCNR Matinee News UPDATED by John F. Bailey, Filed 3/13/02 2:30 PM: WPCNR learned Tuesday evening, that Fisher Hill residents are alarmed over acquisition of a residence, 139 Walworth Avenue, by the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services. Neighbors fear the home will be used to house youths with criminal pasts. The Mayor’s Office stepped into the matter today.
139 Walworth Avenue: Site of possible group home for emotionally disturbed youth under the care of Jewish Board of Family and Children’ Services.
Photo by WPCNR
Reacting to neighborhood contacts, the Mayor’s Office said it is in the process of scheduling a neighborhood meeting to discuss the issues. They reported they are working to learn more about the proposed use from the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.
Meanwhile, the Building Department Mulls Usage Clarification.
GENTRIFIED STREET: Walworth Avenue, just off the Bronx River Parkway, showing residences neigboring proposed Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services site.
Photo by WPCNR
WPCNR learned Wednesday morning that the usage of the 139 Walworth Avenue residence, located in a gentrified section of Fisher Hill just off the Bronx River Parkway, is in the process of being classified by the Building Department, where the application now sits. The Building Department has not gotten back to WPCNR on the issues involved in the classification.
A use as of right IF…
A knowledgeable WPCNR source within the city, familiar with such matters, said that occupancy depended on the number of residents planned. He said, if the residence houses a designated number of residents who “will live as a family,” they qualify as a “group home, single family residence” under the law, without obtaining a special permit, variance, or Common Council approval.
At issue, this source said is how many residents, what their health status is, and whether they are under the Department of Social Services as a “Domiciallary Care Facility” or the State Department of Health jurisdiction as a “community residence.” We await a Building Department statement on the matter.
Our source also added that this home was intended to replace the JBFCS group home closed by construction of the Clayton Park apartments in the Eastview section of the city, though he did not know if it was for the same residents.
Flyer Making Rounds
In a yellow flyer being distributed to residents, the Fisher Hill Association is asking the Common Council to follow through on the previously announced city plan to declare Fisher Hill “an endangered neighborhood.”
The flyer asks concerned citizens in the Fisher Hill area to write Common Councilmen and call the Mayor to “request them to introduce resolution stateing that Fisher Hill has more than its fair share of special needs housing and illegal rooming houses and they wish to discourage any further proliferation of this housing in our area.”
Check of Assessor’s records reveals mystery purchaser.
According to Claire Orlando, she had noticed that the residence at 139 Walworth Avenue was being renovated. It appeared to be being converted into small single rooms. She noticed that a person from the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services entered the house one day.
She said she checked the City Assessor’s Office land records and found that the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services was the new owner of the home. She inquired, ( it is not clear who told her the following information), and was told that the home was being planned as a residence for young persons whom she was told were troubled, but who would be “medicated.”
A stealth move.
Ms. Orlando told WPCNR that the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services has since refused to confirm the nature of the intended residents or their psychiatric condition. Orlando said the residents were not mentally disabled, but were young adults with a tendency toward disturbed behavior.
At the time we learned of this effort by Fisher Hill, the organization offices were closed and could not be reached to confirm their intent for the property.
As far as WPCNR has been able to determine, the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services has not attempted to communicate with Fisher Hill residents about the proposed home.
About the new owner.
The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS), according to its website, has treated social problems for over 110 years. It bills itself as “one of the nation’s largest and most respected nonprofit mental health and social service agencies,” serving more than 65,000 New Yorkers with 185 community-centered programs, residential facilities and day-treatment centers, employing 2,200 employees: professional social workers, licensed psychologists, and psychiatrists, and clinical support personnel in continuing day treatment and residential treatment centers. A corps of 2,000 dedicated volunteers work with our staff to help ease the burdens that strain and disrupt lives.
JBFCS is supported by two heavyweight charitable agencies: The United Way, and the UJA-Federation of New York.
