BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
As the fi rst supervised
drug consumption facilities
in the country begin operating
in Manhattan, Bronxites
living among the highest overdose
rates in New York City
may wonder when the centers
are coming their way.
There are no concrete
plans for the sites in the Bronx
— yet.
The centers — called
overdose prevention centers
(OPCs) — allow people to
bring in illicit drugs and use
them with clean needles under
the supervision of workers
at the ready with naloxone, an
overdose reversal drug. There
are more than 100 centers
across various countries; the
fi rst two in the United States
opened in Manhattan on Nov.
30.
State Sen. Gustavo Rivera,
a progressive representing
the Bronx and chairman of
the state Senate Health Committee,
told the Bronx Times
that a few providers are being
discussed for OPCs in the
Bronx, but they don’t have the
operational level necessary to
open yet.
The senator said controversy
surrounding the facilities
stems from a mistaken belief
that addiction is a moral
failing that should be treated
as a crime. Addiction, instead,
is a disease and should be
treated as such.
“They are compelled physically
to use this substance,”
Rivera said. “That is what addiction
is. So just because you
push them into a place you
can’t see them, they’re still going
to use.”
When stigmatized, people
hide their addiction, leading
to overdoses and deaths, Rivera
said.
Rivera sponsored a bill in
January 2019 to roll out an
OPC program, but it didn’t
garner enough support. He
plans to advocate for two fresh
bills in Albany, one to create
an OPC pilot program and the
other to authorize and regulate
the programs statewide.
But Gov. Kathy Hochul,
a Democrat, could allow the
centers more expeditiously
through executive action,
similar to what Mayor Bill de
Blasio, a progressive, did in
New York City, Rivera told the
Bronx Times.
Out of more than 100 OPCs
in the world, there hasn’t been
a single death at one of the
centers, Rivera said — a claim
echoed by de Blasio’s offi ce.
The centers have intervened
in 36 overdoses as of
Sunday, Dec. 12, a spokesperson
from OnPoint, the group
that runs the Manhattan centers,
told the Bronx Times.
But not everyone is welcoming
the program with
open arms.
Julia Cruz, a social worker
and CB2’s fi rst vice chair, said
a center would be “horrible”
for the district when the city
health department presented
information about the centers
to CB2’s Health and Human
Services Committee on Dec. 6.
She said an OPC would
serve as an invitation to drug
dealers and people who are addicted
to drugs to come into
the neighborhood.
“I’m just concerned about
the community,” Cruz said. ”
…I’m concerned about bringing
people in, and it seems like
it’ll be a revolving door — use
your drugs, leave.”
She also questioned the effectiveness
of the centers.
“Are you really helping
them, or is this something to
pacify them and let them use
their drugs?” she said.
Michael McRae, acting executive
deputy commissioner
of the health department’s
mental hygiene division, said
that 30 years of data from other
countries show a reduction in
overdose deaths in neighborhoods
with the centers, as well
as a reduction in public drug
use, littered needles and drugrelated
crimes. He also said
people who use the centers
Workers in vests greet people at the entrance to the Washington Heights overdose prevention center, which
allows people to consume illicit drugs under supervision. Photo Adrian Childress
already live nearby and don’t
travel 2-3 miles to get to them.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, D 16 EC. 17-23, 2021 BTR
While there hasn’t been a
data analysis to track where
people utilizing the Manhattan
facilities are coming from,
a spokesperson for OnPoint
attested that Bronxites have
been using the program’s
services on-site and through
mobile van outreach in the
Bronx. All of OnPoint’s health
and overdose prevention services
are available at the vans,
except supervised consumption.
When board members
questioned McRae on whether
the centers help people quit
drugs, he said data shows people
are more likely to get connected
with services, and not
overdose and die.
“Not dying feels like a
higher-order goal than making
sure the person gets off
of drugs in that moment in
time.” McRae said. “The idea
is that over time, they build
a relationship and get connected
to services.”
The centers can connect
people to treatment, medical
care and social services, receive
counseling, and get basic
necessities, a city health
department spokesperson told
the Bronx Times.
McRae said an OPC would
have given his father, who
died of AIDS and was a heroin
addict, a better chance of living.
CB2 Chairman Roberto
Crespo argued that the neighboring
Community District
1 — which includes Mott Haven,
Melrose and Port Morris
— would need the center more
than CD2 — which includes
Hunts Point, Longwood and
part of Morrisania — and that
public containers to deposit
needles in CD1 were overfl owing
while CD2’s were barely
used.
McRae said there are still
signifi cant concerns in CD2.
“We believe that this is
something that really should
be at multiple jurisdictions
around the city,” he said of the
OPCs.
City Councilwoman Diana
Ayala, who represents much
of the South Bronx and East
Harlem, told the Bronx Times
the centers need to be in every
neighborhood that needs them
in order to be most effective.
She said the Bronx desperately
needs the centers, particularly
in the South Bronx.
“The numbers are really
high and it merits our immediate
attention,” she said.
In 2020, fatal overdoses were
at an all-time high since reporting
began two decades ago, at
2,062 deaths citywide, according
to the health department.
The fi rst quarter of this year
had 596 overdose deaths, compared
to 456 last year during
the same period.
The Bronx had the highest
rate of overdose deaths out of
all the boroughs in 2020, at 48
per 100,000 residents, compared
to 25.2 in Manhattan. The
numbers amplify in the South
Bronx, with 68.7 overdose
deaths per 100,000 residents.
In Hunts Point and Mott Haven,
the numbers rose to 75.3,
and in Crotona and Tremont, it
was 73.8.
Ayala said conversations
have been initiated about
bringing centers to the Bronx,
which will need to continue under
Mayor-elect Eric Adams,
who said he plans to open more
OPCs.
OPCs in New York City have
the potential to save 130 lives a
year, according to the city’s feasibility
study.
The Manhattan sites
launched on Nov. 30 in conjunction
with de Blasio’s offi ce and
NYC Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene. The centers
are run by the Washington
Heights CORNER Project and
New York Harm Reduction Educators,
in Harlem — private
providers that are merging into
one organization called On-
Point NYC.
The supervised drug-use
sites don’t just allow injections
but also allow smoking, snorting,
swallowing or other means
of using drugs, a spokesperson
for the Manhattan centers said.
OnPoint would like to expand
in the future but doesn’t
have plans for additional sites,
the spokesperson said.
McRae told CB2 that there
are no fi rm plans for Bronx centers,
but the health department
is looking forward to expanding.
A spokesman for the mayor’s
offi ce told the Bronx Times
on Friday there are no further
expansion plans to report.
Bronx anticipates overdose
prevention centers with
mixed reactions
A staff member inside the East Harlem overdose prevention center. Photo
courtesy OnPoint