Uptown Subway Station Littered With Needles A Health Crisis: Pol

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A Washington Heights subway station littered with used needles has been labeled a "public health crisis" by the neighborhood's representative in the city council.

City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez called on the MTA, the NYPD and the city administration to ensure the safety of cleanliness of the West 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue 1 train station following multiple news reports describing the station as a haven for drug use.

"Used needles littering the subway platform by drug users is not acceptable. This has become an everyday problem for commuters. We must work with the MTA, NYPD, and the Administration to ensure that children, students, and adult riders are not exposed to the public health danger that these needles bring," Rodriguez said in a statement Tuesday.

Rodriguez proposed moving a mobile needle distribution center outside the station as a solution to the station's problems, while noting that he supports any programs that aim to help people addicted to opiates or other drugs.

"We need to support our New Yorkers who deal with addiction to any drugs, but that a better location should be identified for the program," Rodriguez said.

The city councilman noted that five schools are located in proximity to the subway station, which is one of the few public transportation options in the area. Five bus routes connecting the Bronx to Manhattan also bring thousands of people into the West 181st Street station each day to transfer to the subway, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez also said the needle program should be moved because people using drugs inside the West 181st Street station could be hurt or killed by falling onto the tracks. The city councilman proposed posting social workers in the station to conduct outreach to people who are going into the subway to use drugs.

An MTA statement pledging to rectify the situation inside the station also appears to pin blame on the presence of the needle distribution program for the station's condition.

"Our new station management and other personnel have repeatedly raised this very concerning issue with the nearby mobile needle distribution program and our NYPD partners, and we’re deeply dismayed that this issue has persisted," an MTA spokesman said in a statement. "Health issues should absolutely be addressed compassionately and in appropriate venues, and not at the expense of our customers’ safety."

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