Year after year, the South Bronx leads New York City in drug overdose deaths, but a plan to open the first overdose center in the borough is facing delays due to a lack of public funding and community buy-in.
Overdose prevention centers, also known as supervised injection sites, seek to make illicit drug use safer by taking it out of settings like parks and public bathrooms.
City and state contracts already help fund St. Ann’s existing operations. In addition to providing clean needles, St. Ann’s offers hot meals, free clothes and communal activities ranging from anger management groups to talent shows. The center also has an onsite doctor who writes prescriptions for buprenorphine – a medication to treat opioid addiction – for those who want to stop rolling the dice on the underground drug supply.
The cafeteria was joyful and bustling at lunchtime last Tuesday as participants chatted, watched TV and used the exercise equipment set up in one corner. But there were also signs of the current overdose crisis everywhere. Rivera has long been eager to replace this ad hoc system. But she hesitated in late 2021 when former Mayor Bill de Blasio approached her with the opportunity to be among the first to open a safe injection site with the city’s support.When de Blasio instead fast-tracked OnPoint’s centers in Harlem and Washington Heights, some in those neighborhoods were outraged that they weren’t given advance notice.
Crespo and Councilmember Salamanca have both pushed Rivera to instead open an overdose prevention center near The Hub, a bustling commercial center at 149th Street and Third Ave. The Hub is easily accessible by public transit and, according to locals, there’s rampant outdoor drug use nearby.
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