November 12, 2022
OnPoint NYC
East 126th Street
New York, NY. 10035
Attn: Sam Rivera, Executive Director
Dear Sam and OnPoint Team,
Thank you so much for joining our Harlem Neighborhood Block Association (HNBA) November meeting. We really appreciate your time and now realize we should have held this meeting with you much earlier.
We are very interested in learning more about what can be done by your organization and the city officials who you regularly meet with, to address our main concerns – the open-air drug use and drug dealing which has exploded on our streets over the last year. As you heard from resident after resident at our meeting, HNBA is asking OnPoint to adopt a community health model, and incorporate us, as your neighbors, and simultaneously address our needs and concerns in addition to working to save lives and guide your participants to health.
Our support for OnPoint and the work you do, is profoundly impacted by conditions we experience when we leave our homes. We want a community where our children can play, where our seniors feel safe, and where everyone can enjoy the streets of Harlem. Saying that Harlem was always this way is not acceptable. We all need to do better, to expect more, and we hope OnPoint agrees this can’t be the excuse for the increased drug use and dealing we detailed to you.
Please let us know what steps OnPoint (and the city officials you meet with) intend to take. If you would like, we would be happy to invite you to give us a brief (10-15 minute) update at our January meeting.
Again, thank you for attending our meeting and we look forward to continued discussion for a resolve both beneficial to OnPoint constituents and HNBA Neighbors.
Sincerely,
Hallia Baker, HNBA President
HNBA’s November Meeting With OnPoint and the Safe Injection Site Staff Recording
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/s17S6y3K4LvilUzgvNnDf81lElFHYP2dPjlHIrb-7wiL57ci29_hO5w7se5KraRa.bUbWhSUZzvfzGu95?startTime=1667951269000
Passcode: M7?44L64
