"The Greater Harlem Coalition stands against organized crime and against narco-traffickers. We support effective treatment for everyone suffering from substance use disorder and encourage our city, state, and federal officials to assist every one of them on their many paths to recovery."
On August 30th the New York Daily News published a piece written by an OnPoint board member, Ms. Marilyn Reyes that advocated against prosecuting organized crime and drug cartels.
The Greater Harlem Coalition drafted the response, below:
The Greater Harlem Coalition would like to express our support for New York’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor and her entire office. Unlike Ms. Reyes, we believe that people and cartels smuggling, manufacturing, and selling heroin, fentanyl, tranq, cocaine, and crack should be prosecuted.
The dealers that supply New Yorkers suffering from substance use disorder are directly complicit in the epidemic of overdose deaths that has killed thousands of our neighbors and loved ones. While Ms. Reyes opposes the work of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor to fight organized crime and ruthless drug cartels (smuggling and then selling the poison used in OnPoint), we oppose drug dealers and their role in the horrific loss of American lives and the destruction of the last vestiges of democracy in many nations south of our border.
The Greater Harlem Coalition stands against organized crime and against narco-traffickers. We support effective treatment for everyone suffering from substance use disorder and encourage our city, state, and federal officials to assist every one of them on their many paths to recovery. For these reasons, we stand with the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and her work to stop the drug dealers who profit from every overdose that occurs in and outside OnPoint.
GHC's Core Mission of Advocating for Fair Share Highlighted
Two of The Greater Harlem Coalition's co-founders - Shawn Hill and Syderia Asberry-Chresfield - welcome news of the plan to locate mobile addiction services in other New York neighborhoods in an interview on CBS. Asberry-Chresfield noted that:
"It will give us the opportunity to breathe"
The coalition has spent years tracking the disproportionate distribution of drug treatment in their neighborhood. Governor Hochul and Congress Member Espaillat know how to reduce foot traffic and idling near the disproportionate number of opioid treatment and harm reduction programs in Harlem and East Harlem. The way to do this is simply to increase take-home medication options and expanding the new mobile medication unit the state launched in July.
Who's Smuggling Fentanyl from Mexico? Americans Looking For Easy Money
NPR has an article on how $500 successfully tempted a woman in the US to travel to Mexico to try and smuggle Fentanyl (pills, swallowed in a condom). The story notes that virtually no migrants or asylum seekers smuggle fentanyl. Most of the time it's desperate, addicted Americans, hoping for some easy money.
MEDIA MENTION
Wall Street Journal Quotes GHC Co-Founder
The Wall Street Journal reports on the tourism revival in Harlem. In the article, The Greater Harlem Coalition's Co-Founder Syderia Asberry-Chresfield is quoted:
Aug. 8, 2023
Visitors are returning to Harlem, providing a much-needed boost to the famous neighborhood as it helps drive New York City’s tourism recovery from the pandemic.
Visits to Harlem over the past year are up more than 15% compared with the 12 months leading into the pandemic, according to cellphone data analyzed by retail and commercial real-estate data-analytics firm RetailStat. People traveling to the neighborhood from more than 5 miles away are helping drive the increase in foot traffic, said Gregg Katz, head of product innovation and marketing at RetailStat.
“It’s great when you hear all the different languages on the streets of Harlem because it’s such a major driver of coffee shops, retail—all the small businesses,” said Marcus Samuelsson, an award-winning chef and owner of the well-known Harlem restaurant Red Rooster.
