NYC Stalls Vital OD Data, Puts Safe Injection Sites At Risk: Advocates

NEW YORK CITY — The true scope of New York City's fatal overdose problem for the past two years remains unknown because city officials have dragged their feet on the literal life-and-death data, advocates charged.

The city needs to release fatal overdose numbers from three months of 2021 and all of 2022, advocates with VOCAL-NY demanded this week.

The last time that city officials released provisional overdose data was June 2022, according to the city's health department's site.

In a blistering statement, VOCAL-NY charged that officials are unwilling to release updated numbers in order to provide "political cover" for Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who have failed to provide a coordinated response to likely hundreds of deaths.

“We’re in a crisis, and we’re going to need them to do what is right,” Jasmine Budnella, the group's director of drug policy, told Patch.

When reached by Patch, a city health department spokesperson agreed that the overdose information is "critical."

The delay comes down to accuracy, the spokesperson said.

"While there is a lag, most of that time entails analyses and verification," the spokesperson said in a statement to Patch.

"In the interim, to ensure data is current, we publish quarterly data," they said, along with a link to data from the first nine months of 2021.

VOCAL-NY's demand for updated numbers came at a precarious time for the city's two overdose prevention centers, also known as "safe injection sites."

The landmark two facilities in Harlem and Washington Heights are in danger of running out of funding in February, the Wall Street Journal first reported.

VOCAL-NY advocates such as Budnella hoped that Hochul would commit to funding the overdose prevention centers in her 2023 "State of the State" address.

But Hochul made no such promise — instead, she concentrated on increasing penalties for fentanyl-related offenses and "drug-induced" homicides.

Both are approaches that increase criminalization, Budnella said.

“It really does nothing to decrease the crisis in a public health lens,” she said.

The city's two safe injection sites, Budnella noted, have intervened and saved people in 700 overdoses. Updated overdose numbers from the city, along with funding, could help show where more sites are needed, she said.

“Imagine if we had more across the five boroughs and across the state,” she said.

The health department spokesperson said fatal overdose numbers from 2021 should be released soon.

"We are working to publish the full year information as soon as possible and it should be coming very soon," they said in an email.