Detox clinic struggles to find new space

Gramercy Park Services, an outpatient detoxification center at 253 Third Avenue and 21st Street, has been serving the community for 40 years, but it may not be doing so for much longer, DNAinfo reported. Since the methadone clinic also treats heroin users, several landlords during a search for its new location have broken off negotiations, fearing problems from those patients, facility manager Raymond Sanchez told residents at a Community Board 6 meeting Monday night. The clinic wants to expand its services to include prescribing medication — a service it cannot currently provide for its detox clients — and the state will only give approval if the facility complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Gramercy Park Services cannot renovate its current 3,000-square-foot space, the second floor of a walk-up to meet accessibility requirements, Sanchez said. The clinic found a space near Tudor City on Second Avenue near 42nd Street, but after neighbors presumably approached the building, “the landlord said he didn’t want problems,” Sanchez said. The same thing happened after paperwork was started for a space at a space on First Avenue near 19th Street, Sanchez said. Sanchez told the board that he’d never had a problem with the community and patients at his clinic. The community board has not taken a position on the clinic’s move. [DNAinfo]