This program is facing much opposition from residents because they believe that it will have many negative effects on the population. Some of the negative effects include decreasing property values, increased crime rates, and safety issues. The program also faces opposition because residents argue that if Mayor de Blasio believes that this will be such a good program, why doesn’t he choose to place the delinquents in his neighborhood. It doesn’t sound like a safe plan to begin with; “technically, these are criminals living with us in our community.” “I want to make this clear: We’re not against the Close to Home initiative,” said Jeysha Ruiz, a leader of the opposition movement. “What we’re against is the inappropriate placement of the facility. It doesn’t belong in our neighborhood.”

            de Blasio’s reasons for placing this program in South Ozone Park is that he believes that the delinquents will be better influenced by living in a better neighborhood than they grew up in. He believes on giving them a better chance at life and by living in a middle class neighborhood that has low crime rates, a good income, and low drug use, that the delinquents will grow out of the negative influences that they grew up with. By interacting with a society that is better than that of the culture that they grew up in, they delinquents will grow up to be better adults.

            Another controversial piece of this program is that the property that was purchased to be the new housing for the delinquents used to belong to a church. Many residents blame the church for allowing this transaction to occur. The Church was fully informed of the intent of Mayor de Blasio before the sale was made. Morally, the Church shouldn’t have supported this cause because these are teens that have committed crimes like murders and are heavy drug use. “For all intents and purposes, it’s a prison,” said Betty Braton, chairwoman of Queens Community Board. “Yes, we need those types of facilities, but it doesn’t have to go on a residential block.”

The source chose to remain anonymous. He was a resident of the community who had been living a few blocks away from the building for thirty years now. He said that he is greatly opposed to the idea of a delinquent center being opened in his neighborhood. “I’ve been here for almost thirty years now and I’ve raised my kids without any fear of criminals. However, now I only for for my grand children. This program seems to be growing very rapidly in our neighborhood and soon it will be all criminals.” He is worried about his safety and he said that he also owns many properties in the neighborhood and he believe that because of the new building being opened, the property values will plummet causing an economic depression. He said he will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars if this program is fully established in the community. He also blames the church for allowing this to happen. He believes that the church sold out and allowed the neighborhood to face the challenges that are yet to come.