New York’s Supervised Drug Sites Show Mixed Community Reaction After Five Years

New York City’s two overdose prevention centers have logged thousands of visits and hundreds of overdose interventions, while neighbors report safety concerns.

OnPoint NYC runs two supervised consumption facilities in East Harlem and Washington Heights, where users can smoke crack or inject heroin under medical supervision. Since 2021 the centers have logged 250,000 visits and intervened in more than 2,100 overdoses without any fatalities, according to executive director Sam Rivera. In addition to safe-use spaces, the sites offer primary care, addiction medication, art therapy, massage, acupuncture and other wellness services.

Community members, including an anonymous educator and local activists such as Syderia Asberry-Chresfield and Led Black, contend the locations draw drug dealers and expose children to drug activity. State attorney-general candidate Saritha Komatireddy and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis have publicly criticized the program as illegal and counterproductive. Researchers from the NIH and other institutions are conducting a multi-year study to determine the centers’ effect on overdose mortality, crime and local businesses, while critics argue the evidence remains inconclusive.