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As the opioid crisis persists in parts of New York City, some overdose prevention programs, treatment initiatives, and recovery efforts may soon see fresh infusions of funds, city officials said during a City Council oversight hearing.
New York City has received $154 million from settlements with the pharmaceutical companies that drove the opioid crisis, a total that will reach $500 million by 2040. An additional settlement agreement with Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family, announced last week, could bring in another $250 million to New York state, some of which might be allocated to the city.
As opioid settlement funds have flowed into the city in recent years, city officials have come under fire for not being transparent enough about how the money has been allocated. Last year, Mayor Eric Adams released broad plans for allocating $50 million annually by fiscal year 2027, but harm reduction advocates and local leaders have urged further details be released.
Meanwhile, the opioid crisis continues to claim lives. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently released data showing that drug overdose deaths declined in New York City in 2023, decreasing for the first time in four years. Still, more than 3,000 New Yorkers died of drug overdoses that year. Overdose mortality disproportionately impacts Bronx and Staten Island residents, as well as Black New Yorkers.
As part of its HealthyNYC campaign — an effort to extend life expectancy for city residents — New York City aims to reduce drug overdose deaths by 25% by 2030.
During the oversight hearing on Tuesday, city council members pressed officials from the Health Department, NYC Health + Hospitals and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on how millions of dollars in settlement funds had been used so far, and where they would go in the coming years.
“It is imperative that the settlement money that the city receives is allocated toward appropriate harm reduction and treatment programs,” said Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, the chair of the Committee on Hospitals.
Dr. Rebecca Linn-Walton, the assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use at the Health Department, noted the “welcome stabilization” of opioid deaths in recent city data, but emphasized that the agency remains focused on reducing deaths and addressing stark racial disparities.
The Health Department has previously used opioid settlement funds to expand wraparound services at syringe service programs, which provide access to sterile syringes and distribute naloxone to drug users, among other services. Those efforts will continue with an added $4.1 million in fiscal year 2026, Linn-Walton said.
The agency also plans to invest $3 million in substance use services on Staten Island and to expand its Relay program — a hospital-based initiative supporting people who have experienced nonfatal overdoses — to two additional emergency departments, for a total of 17 departments citywide. Other funds will be used to expand methadone and buprenorphine treatment programs, as well as recovery programs.
“This year is the big ramp-up year,” Linn-Walton said.
She noted that most of the funds will flow through community-based organizations selected through a procurement process.
At NYC Health + Hospitals, opioid settlement funds have been used to support a broad array of work, including the funding of mobile harm reduction teams, which offer testing, vaccinations and wound care to homeless New Yorkers, said Dr. Daniel Schatz, the health system’s medical director of addiction services.
Robert Van Pelt, chief of staff at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said that the agency’s opioid settlement funds have supported the Drug Intelligence and Intervention Group, which connects families and survivors to support services following an overdose death. He added that the agency has also used settlement funds to hire additional staff and equipment to reduce the time it takes to certify opioid overdose deaths.
In remarks during the hearing, Christine Khaikin, senior health policy attorney at the Legal Action Center, a law and policy organization, urged greater transparency in the city’s opioid settlement fund disbursements, and called for the creation of a regularly updated public spending dashboard that would enable real-time monitoring.
“Broad-stroke summaries of programs available to the public so far aren’t enough, and leave open questions of whether any of these funds are going places not included in reporting,” Khaikin said.
Other speakers drew attention to parts of the city where the opioid crisis remains acute.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson urged city leaders to devote more funds to stemming the tide of fatal overdoses in her borough. Bronx residents experience the highest rate of overdose mortality among city residents, according to the most recent data.
“The Bronx cannot wait,” Gibson said. “We need this money, we need the funding, right now. Every life we lose is a reminder of the work that must be done.”
Eliza Fawcett is a reporter covering public health in New York City for Healthbeat. Contact Eliza at efawcett@healthbeat.org .
