State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) and his team hosted the Second Annual Public Health & Safety Fair in Poe Park, located on the Grand Concourse between East 192nd Street and East Kingsbridge Road, in Kingsbridge Heights on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

 

According to Rivera, sixteen local organizations participated in the event including: R.A.I.N., the The Peer Network of New York, Union Community Health Center (UCHC), Part of The Solution (POTS), Bronx Community Solutions, and the NYPD. Since 1964, Regional Aid for Interim Needs, Inc (R.A.I.N) has been providing compassionate care for families in NYC and lower Westchester County.

 

UCHC, meanwhile is a nonprofit entity, as reported, is a Federally Qualified Health Center or FQHC that has served the health care needs of The Bronx for more than 115 years, providing care to nearly 40,000 patients annually.

 

POTS provides food, showers, and a range of other services to the undomiciled Bronx community. Meanwhile, Bronx Community Solutions, an initiative of the Center for Justice Innovation, provides community-based alternatives to jail, restores community relationships, and helps participants avoid further criminal legal involvement.

 

Finally, the mission of the Peer Network is to support the work of peers across New York State through education and training, leadership development, and advocacy. It recognizes that peers are most effective in flighting to save lives and reduce harm for the most vulnerable community members.

Speaking to Norwood News at the event, the senator said in part, “Obviously, a lot of our neighbors have noted how there [have] been a lot of issues that have existed around this park, and in this park, that people are using (drugs) publicly, and issues of people having no access to services.”

 

As reported, the area around the park, including the Kingsbridge underpass located at the Grand Concourse and East Kingsbridge Road, and the park itself is frequently used by drug users and residents have previously raise safety concerns for children over discarded needles, among other issues.

 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams previously joined Councilmember Oswald Feliz (C.D. 15) and other elected officials on a walk around the Kingsbridge underpass area and Poe Park in March 2024, to witness firsthand the problems experienced by the community as a result of drug use in the area.

Meanwhile, Rivera explained that the health & safety fair was “an opportunity to not only provide services directly to the individuals who are in need but in this case, be here today to be able to talk directly to neighbors about the work that they do.”

 

He explained some of the ongoing programs, including syringe pick-up in the park to prevent discarded needles from ending up in the trash, connecting drug users with recovery services, as well as directing people to the services provided by the Overdose Prevention Center in Manhattan.

 

With the alarming trend of opioid overdoses, Rivera said, “We provide Narcan as well so that people can have this available to them so that if they bump into someone that is having an overdose, that they can potentially revive them.” As reported, a Narcan kit containing Naloxone is a potentially lifesaving measure designed to help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in minutes.

Rivera continued, “All of these things are an opportunity for community members to see the work that these organizations do and to talk with them about how best to do it. It was very successful last year.”

 

The senator said the goal of the event was “to be able to keep neighborhoods safe but to keep people who use drugs healthy and try and connect them to services so that they can potentially get off the drugs that they’re on, and just connect them to services that they might not know about.”

 

The event coincided with the Poe Park Green Market that takes place regularly on East 192nd Street between Valentine Avenue and the Grand Concourse. The market is held every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and continues until the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Speaking to Norwood News at the fair, Fordham Manor resident Lydia said, “It was wonderful! Yes, we got our blood pressure checked; it wasn’t good!” she said with a laugh. She added, “We got a lot of good information about drugs and if you overdose on opioids.” Lydia’s friend, Gene, added, “They should have this more often, definitely.”

 

Read our recent story on the unveiling also in Poe Park on Friday, Sept. 26, of a new mobile outreach unit which will provide vital overdose prevention services and information to the local community which was funded by Rivera here.