High-end addiction treatment center eyes Upper East Side spot

Area residents slammed proposal in Tuesday community board meeting

From left: 435 East 79th Street and 201 Fort Pond Boulevard in East Hampton
From left: 435 East 79th Street and 201 Fort Pond Boulevard in East Hampton

Safe Harbor Retreat, a high-end drug treatment center based in East Hampton, is eyeing a new spot for an outpatient treatment center on the Upper East Side.

The group, which currently maintains a residential drug treatment facility in the Hamptons priced at $50,000 for a 30-day stay, discussed the possibility of opening a 435 East 79th Street outpost with Community Board 8’s Health and Social Services Committee last week, DNAinfo reported. As the Hamptons location serves many patients who also live on the Upper East Side, officials said they have received requests for another spot near their home base.

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While Safe Harbor snagged initial approval from the state to open an Upper East Side center, a number of area residents oppose the move, expressing concerns that the center would distribute methadone to some patients — a charge David Evans, a legislative and regulatory constant representing Safe Harbor, dismissed.

“We don’t do opiate replacement treatment,” he told the assembled crowd. “We’re not licensed for that and we just don’t do it.” [DNAinfo]Julie Strickland