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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Walter Bell, Member of the Public
2:31:06
ยท
3 min
Walter Bell, a member of the public, testifies in support of the proposed bill to prohibit syringe distribution near schools. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining a good quality of life around educational institutions and raises concerns about the effectiveness of current syringe service programs.
- Argues that needles should not be found near schools, which are centers of knowledge and education
- Criticizes the current syringe collection efforts, suggesting that needles reappear at night after daytime cleanup
- Highlights the high overdose fatality rates in specific areas of the Bronx, arguing for stronger measures to address the issue
Walter Bell
2:31:06
Thank you.
2:31:07
Good afternoon, everyone.
2:31:08
You just heard from my daughter, and I wanna thank Desiree for, also having her first time testifying.
2:31:15
But, you know, this is a work that I've had my daughter doing since a very young age.
2:31:20
We've been out in the community within community board seven.
2:31:24
And in different areas of the Bronx, We presented the needles to the different community boards.
2:31:31
However, you know, at this time at this time, with this critical moment, we found that this is almost unacceptable.
2:31:38
The it should be a no brainer that this bill shouldn't even have to be crossed.
2:31:41
The needle should be nowhere near schools.
2:31:43
Schools are considered the highest forms of education for any government or any country.
2:31:49
And with that being said, that's where the beholding of knowledge is.
2:31:54
So if that's where the beholding of knowledge is, then we can't have poor qualities of life around schools.
2:32:00
Around schools is not a place where we should be seeing needles saturated all over the place.
2:32:05
One other key point is that people mention OnPoint, St.
2:32:08
Anne's, and different things like that.
2:32:09
Well, you know, I commend those organizations for the services that they provide.
2:32:16
However, if this is business, then there's a problem.
2:32:20
Because in a eight hour shift, if you work in the daytime and you pick up needles, what we do is we come at nighttime and find out that there's even more needles in the night.
2:32:31
So it has to be coming from within the community where the problem is.
2:32:38
These different organizations, they in different locations.
2:32:40
They come to other locations to do the work, to pick up the needles.
2:32:44
But we should have communities or organizations from right within that community that do the work, that want to do the work of improving the quality of life of their own community, and that's a major problem that we find with the SCPs.
2:32:57
So that's the second part.
2:32:58
The last part is that if we look at the numbers in New York City, the numbers for overdose episodes have gone up tremendously.
2:33:05
I have to cut my things short because someone's calling me, but the numbers have gone up tremendously.
2:33:10
My daughter mentioned OOPPs.
2:33:12
The overdose fatalities in The Bronx, New York, specifically, Oswald, Felise's area, Gustavo's area, and other senators and councilmen's and assemblyman's area in The Bronx is horrific.
2:33:25
We gotta stop playing games here.
2:33:27
We need to put a period to some of this.
2:33:29
Now, if you looked at the overdose fatalities, just Hunts Point, Kingsbridge, Tremont, and, oh, and one or two other areas, Morrissey, you know, Highbridge, They've had more overdose fatalities than all the other boroughs combined within the last two to three years.
2:33:49
So coming up with a different concept, it should be, just as much respected and appreciated with what these bills are trying to say that we need to do a little bit more, cracking down on what we're allowing to happen in our community.
2:34:02
Remember, we are allowing this to happen in the community.
2:34:06
Yes.
2:34:06
We understand that these are the issue that we that addiction has situations, but we also have to understand that we also have to have a certain amount of integrity that goes along with the work that we do.
2:34:16
So I thank you for allowing me to share, my daughter to share.
2:34:19
We are a family of scientists.
2:34:20
We are a family of people who reach out and support our community, and we do whatever it takes to be able to do that.
2:34:26
Thank you very much, and you all have a blessed day.