Head Of Uptown Injection Site Named Among World's 100 Most Influential

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — The leader of uptown safe consumption centers in Washington Heights and East Harlem was just named among Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of the year.

Sam Rivera, the Executive Director of OnPoint NYC, earned a spot on "Time100's Most Influential of 2023."

"While my name is on the award, I accept this recognition in the name of the people that have advocated and worked for decades to advance the lifesaving services of harm reduction," Rivera said. "This honor represents the growing recognition that harm reduction works."

OnPoint opened the first of its kind supervised injection sites in the fall of 2021 near West 180th Street and Amsterdam, and on East 126th Street near Park Avenue.

At its six-month mark in June 2022, it had helped revere 314 overdoses combined at the two sites.

"Sam Rivera has pioneered an approach to help, rather than abandon or simply jail—as we usually do—an estimated 7 million Americans with OUD," Time Magazine's description of Rivera's work read. "As executive director of OnPoint NYC, he meets drug users without judgment, instead offering support, clean needles, and critical connections to care that include providing medically supervised injection spaces at three sites in New York City."

To give an idea of the group Rivera was featured within, other people to make the "100 Most Influential People Of 2023," included Salman Rushdie, King Charles, Lionel Messi, Brittney Griner, Hakeem Jeffries, Mitch McConnell, Elon Musk, and many more.

You can find out more about Rivera's work on OnPoint's website.

Read More:

• Uptown Injection Sites Have Reversed 314 Overdoses At 6-Month Mark
• First Of Its Kind Injection Site Opens In Wash Heights: Report
• Supervised Injection Site Opens In Harlem In Historic Move