Examining New York City Opioid Settlement Fund Investments
New York City Council Committees on Hospitals & Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction
Testimony of Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson
January 28, 2025
Thank you to Chair Lee, Chair Narcisse, and the members of the Committees on Hospitals and Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction for convening this important hearing today.
In our borough, we are seeing firsthand the effects the opioid epidemic is having on our communities. While we are grateful that there was a decline in fatal overdoses in 2023, The Bronx is still seeing an increase in opioid-related fatalities.
Our overdose death rate in 2023 was nearly twice that of the next highest borough, further highlighting the disparities that persist in addressing this public health crisis.
This situation is untenable, and we know more must be done by our leaders at all levels of government to bring relief to The Bronx and other impacted areas in our city.
As our borough and city continue to confront the unprecedented opioid epidemic, we have received a lifeline in the form of the Opioid Settlement Fund. I want to thank our Attorney General Letitia James for her leadership on this issue and for fighting to ensure that the communities that have been the most impacted by this crisis can now receive the support that they need to invest in social services, harm reduction strategies, and organizations who are committed to ending this epidemic.
We are calling on the Adams Administration to provide transparency on how these funds will be disbursed and to create a plan to equitably distribute the funding to neighborhoods that have been impacted most by this epidemic.
We have heard from many of our service providers and community members in The Bronx about the conditions that they are seeing on the ground. In areas like the Hub, Southern Boulevard, Kingsbridge Road, Fordham Plaza, and more, we are seeing what a complete abdication of responsibility looks like when it comes to those facing addiction and related health issues.
Our children and families are forced to confront active drug use, potentially dangerous individuals, used syringes, and bodily fluids and waste as they walk around their own neighborhoods. This is an unacceptable situation that requires a holistic approach to address the root causes of these issues. We cannot erase or ignore years of health injustices in our communities, but we can undo them. While we have seen sporadic increases in enforcement from NYPD and the Department of Sanitation, we must see a more consistent response from the city.
Funds from the Opioid Settlement Fund must be allocated to the service providers and credible messengers who work directly with affected populations in these communities. These organizations provide harm reduction, lifelines to treatment, and other vital patient-centered services.
The Bronx cannot wait. We need this funding now. Every life lost to this epidemic is a life that could be saved, but we must take immediate action.
We must use this money to pioneer innovative solutions and utilize ideas that have worked across the country. After speaking with our service providers, these are our recommendations for how we should use the opioid settlement funding:
- We should fund more mobile units to bring services and treatment directly to individuals in the community.
- We should create drop-in sites in areas with high concentrations of opioid users, to move them from the street into spaces where they can be offered treatment and services.
- And we should strongly consider as a community the merits of bringing an Overdose Prevention Center to The Bronx like they have in East Harlem and Washington Heights.
- This funding should also go to providing naloxone trainings, so residents in their communities can administer this lifesaving treatment to people in need while waiting for medical help to arrive. The more people who have access to naloxone and the knowledge to use it, the more lives will be saved.
The Opioid Settlement Fund is a crucial source of funding for these efforts. We must ensure that this funding makes it out of City Hall and into the communities where it can do the most good. Delays are deadly, and more New Yorkers die every day from opioid overdoses. These are not just numbers, they are real people, and they need our help today. Thank you.