Editorial

Fund mental health for all

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This week’s Press puts a spotlight on two local projects in need of extra support from the authorities.

You wouldn’t know it from the appearance of the home, but a non-descript brick building near the Henry Hudson Parkway is a sanctuary of sorts for some of the community’s neediest individuals. For the past several years, about 200 people with mental health challenges have taken refuge at the Parachute NYC facility run by the Riverdale Mental Health Association.

The uniquely caring approach employed at the house — an alternative to far costlier stays at psychiatric wards — gives residents a chance to unplug from the stresses of their everyday lives and collaborate with staff to find the best form of therapy. Residents can come and go as they please during stays lasting up to two weeks. Even taking medication is an option. Group activities like art classes provide a soothing form of therapy, with residents and workers’ judgments checked at the door.

Over the years, proposals to provide mental health services in the northwest Bronx have at times drawn backlash from the community. But Parachute NYC seems like a resounding success.

With the program’s trial run set to expire at the end of June, the city should ensure Parachute NYC continues to receive the funds it needs to help people get better.

Another project in town would improve physical and mental health for all. 

Van Cortlandt Park has long provided a vital escape from the urban jungle most of us spend our days in. Just a few hours along its winding paths can be enough to exercise the body and clear the mind.

Unfortunately, those paths have long been separated by Robert Moses’ folly. His plan to ram the Major Deegan Expressway straight through Vannie absurdly cut one half of the park off from the other.

A pedestrian bridge over the highway would open up new vistas for the park’s many lovers. Instead of going around in small circles, pedestrians and bikers could make glorious, sweeping loops of the grounds. Riverdalians could enjoy ballparks on the east side, and Norwood residents could more easily access the west’s pool and other attractions.

Parachute NYC, Riverdale Mental Health Association, Van Cortlandt Park
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