Sam Rivera, executive director of OnPoint NYC, said as the City copes with a record number of fatal drug overdoses, it must do everything it can to give people a fighting chance to survive and thrive. “The testing machines provided by the city will allow our participants to make informed decisions about their consumption and will serve as an invaluable tool in OnPoint NYC’s mission to save lives,” she said. “I want to thank Mayor Adams for his ‘Getting Stuff Done’ efforts towards stemming this crisis and acknowledging the value of the beautiful souls that struggle through it.”

 

Since 2021, DOHMH officials said the department has significantly expanded fentanyl test strip availability by launching two pilot programs to establish community-based distribution. Combined, they said these two programs have distributed approximately 30,000 fentanyl test strips to more than 3,000 unique individuals to date. They said these strategies, particularly when utilized together, can mitigate the harms of drug use, empower people to make informed decisions, and ultimately prevent overdose.

 

In June 2021, Norwood News reported how NYPD officers were able to intervene, using their training to successfully administer the drug, Narcan, to a man, preventing him from dying from an accidental overdose after they discovered him at Kingsbridge Road subway station.

 

Meanwhile, Robert Polner of New York University announced in June that a new, South Bronx-centered initiative led by NYU Silver School of Social Work professors, Jennifer Manuel and Lance Keene, had received a City grant to help educate residents who use drugs, as well as the broader South Bronx community, about the risks associated with fentanyl.

 

“Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, is driving the current wave of overdose deaths,” Polner said at the time. “Often consumed unknowingly, it is accelerating the rate and widening the reach of the opioid-related overdose epidemic in the U.S.”

 

 

Named the New York City Communities for Health (NYCC4H) initiative, the outreach effort is using the $40,000 grant from the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to distribute free Fentanyl test strips which detect the presence of the potent opioid in a drug, after the drug is diluted. The initiative also covers training on Naloxone, a medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.

 

The city’s grant was approved in January. NYCC4H also receives support for HIV and substance use disorder prevention and treatment from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). NYCC4H has hired two peer outreach workers with lived experience of substance use or recovery.

 

In 2020, a total of 1,580 New Yorkers died from a fentanyl-involved overdose, according to the City’s health department. Meanwhile, the rate of overdose death per 100,000 people was 75.3 percent for the Hunts Point-Mott Haven neighborhoods, compared with the citywide rate of 30.5 percent.

 

R. Yamir Gomez Carrasco is a NYCC4H program manager and said the training they were providing was for people in the community, “whoever wants it.” He said with the current wave of overdoses, research shows that one person dies every four hours in New York City from an overdose. “So we want to get these tools in the hands of people who need it, particularly people who use non-opioid drugs like cocaine and meth as they may not be aware of Fentanyl-related overdose risk,” he said.

 

“Mott Haven is the geographical focus of the NYU Silver School of Social Work initiative,” Gomez Carrasco said, adding that this was because “it is disproportionately impacted by overdoses due to disinvestment in the neighborhood, as seen in its designation as a medically underserved area, as well as other drivers of disparities associated with structural inequities.”

 

The training takes three minutes during street outreach or when delivered in-depth, half an hour, according to Gomez Carrasco. The goal was to reach 600 people on how to use fentanyl test strips by the end of June. In addition, two animated online training videos were in the works as part of an online resource center where New York City residents would be able to view the training videos and request supplies on a 24/7 basis.

As reported, two men were arrested in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx in connection with a large-scale heroin/fentanyl packaging and distribution operation, according to an announcement by City prosecutors on Thursday, Aug. 4. A stash of approximately 6 kilograms of narcotics (over 13 pounds), with a street value of at least $1.8 million, was intercepted during a short-term investigation, prosecutors said.

 

On Monday, Aug. 8, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33), currently running for reelection, will co-host a “Community Forum on Harm Reduction” with the 52nd Precinct Community Council at 6:30 p.m. at Monroe College’s Mintz auditorium to address neighbors’ concerns on issues related to needle use etc. near the Kingsbridge Road overpass, Poe Park, and the surrounding area.

 

Meanwhile, deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, Anne Williams-Isom, said of the renewed efforts to prevent overdoses, “New York City is leading the nation with harm reduction and outreach strategies to reach people struggling with opioid use issues.” She added, “Today’s visit highlights that work, shows how OPCs have helped avert overdose death and injury, and demonstrates novel safety interventions, including drug checking. Thank you to our partners in this work and to the dedicated teams working at and in support of the city’s OPCs. Your work positively impacts so many individuals and families across New York City.”