Methadone-clinic-van-dyke-0309.jpg
Chalk one up for Team Gentrification in Red Hook. Per a tipster, the Narco Freedom Methadone Clinic at 134 Van Dyke Street has shut down (a move that should free up some seats on the Ikea shuttle, if this article is to be believed) and is relocating to 561 Court Street. The question now is what will be become of the one-story commercial building that trucker Peter Vetri built in the early 1960s. A 2006 article in the Brooklyn Paper reported that a 24-unit development was in the works for the 65-by-200-foot property but all we could find in DOB records was a request to convert the space from a medical facility to a “contractor’s establishment.” The property was purchased in October 2007 for $2,100,000, a price that suggests more ambition than a storage facility for sheetrock. Anyone know what the plan is? GMAP
Photo from PropertyShark


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Wow MM – I was just kidding, but I’m not really surprised. Seems like Crown Heights is really getting the shaft when it comes to these unsavory places being relocated.

    Any idea why this keeps happening? From my experiences living in Crown Heights, I gathered that the home owners there are extremely community oriented, so there must be some outcry and opposition. Is it just that the city assumes opposition would be stronger if they moved a place like this to Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights?

  2. I just don’t get you, What. Mister B said nothing editorial about this really. One can infer sarcasm, one can infer anger, or one can infer agreement. You always see what confirms your perception anyway, so why bother with the “Ah ha! Caught you!” moments?

    Anyway, methadone clinics are horrible beasts from which we must rid ourselves. Truly. And in many ways, methadone is worse than heroine. They were attempts at helping addicts that have failed.

    We now know that they do not work, and in fact, can become a permanent “lifestyle” for the user, even more addictive than the original. With heroin, there is typically a 3-4 day detox period. With methadone, there is a 4-6 week physical withdrawal period, followed by months, perhaps years of psychological healing that needs to take place. And these clinics can and do make drug dealers out of users, as they can and do sell their pills for 25 to 30 bucks a pop.

    To say nothing of the NIMBY aspect to the clinics themselves. Would YOU want a clinic next door? Be honest.