NYC Overdose Deaths On Rise As City Ramps Up Intervention: Data

NEW YORK CITY — More than 1,200 New Yorkers died in drug overdoses in six months last year — a spike driven by the growing prevalence of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, health officials announced Thursday.

In all, 1,233 overdose deaths were recorded in the first six months of 2021, according to a newly released report. That's an increase from 965 deaths during the same period in 2020, the report said.

Should the trend continue, the number of overdose deaths in 2021 is likely to exceed 2020, the worst year since the city started keeping records more than two decades ago, officials said.

"The overdose epidemic is taking one New Yorker from us every four hours and is a public health crisis that has touched far too many people," Dr. Ashwin Vasan, the city's health commissioner, said in a statement.

The increase in overdose deaths comes despite ongoing city intervention efforts such as overdose prevention centers, public awareness campaigns and more.

In November, city officials opened a supervised injection site for drug users in East Harlem, saying the first-of-its-kind facility would save lives amid the devastating spike in opioid-related deaths.

The site, run by New York Harm Reduction Educators, is operating out of the nonprofit's headquarters on East 126th Street near Park Avenue. The facility gives out clean needles, administers naloxone to prevent overdoses and allows people to inject themselves with drugs in a safe environment.

RELATED: Supervised Injection Site Opens In Harlem In Historic Move

Last year, the city also committed an additional $9 million to raise awareness about fentanyl, increase the capacity of syringe service programs, and increase access to naloxone, an FDA-approved drug that rapidly reverses opioid overdose.

The city also launched a community ambassador program where "ambassadors" with a history of substance use engaged with older Black New Yorkers and Puerto Rican New Yorkers in Harlem and the South Bronx to provide support. The ambassadors also passed out more than 300 naloxone kits to people at high risk of overdose.