Residents butt heads over proposed drug rehab facility in Throgs Neck

Miracle City is a proposed rehab facility at 2800 Bruckner Boulevard has neighbors up in arms, saying they don't want it nearby. 
However, the proposed Throgs Neck facility has many who have lost loved ones to addiction rallying for it.
Anthony Trotta lost a son to heroin overdose.
“There’s nothing you can describe in the world like that,” says Trotta.
Trotta says two-and-a-half years ago he was a working father trying to get his son the help he needed to survive.
"Most of these drug programs, once you’re an addict you get put into these drug programs after, but there's nothing for counseling for pre-counseling prior to that,” he says.

Location is something Trotta says could have helped his son, who had to travel to Queens for treatment.

"It’s a battle every day to get them on the straight and to get them to that program,” says Trotta.

Location, however, is something some Throgs Neck natives take the greatest issue with.

Residents protested the center over its proximity to schools, as well as the fear that it could eventually distribute drugs like methadone. 

"That's a separate license and at no time will we be seeking that license,” says Andrea Corson, chief compliance officer.

What they are applying for is an 822-license granted by the state. It shows a separate optional application for stronger prescriptions like methadone, though says some medication administration is required. 

"Everything goes directly to a pharmacy. There is no dispensing or distributing medication on this site,” says Corson.

They say there will be no beds or loitering near schools either.

"A program such as this runs like a doctor’s office, people don't just come in, there's no people roaming the streets or congregating, they come for their sessions and they go home,” says Corson.

A type of appointment parents like Trotta wishes his son could have had.

"Some of it is in memory of him, and I’m doing it to help other kids and other parents to not get to this point where I’m at,” says Trotta.

Miracle City still needs to be approved by state and local agencies before they can file for the 822-license, and that preliminary approval meeting is scheduled for next week.