Junkies have been dumping some 5,000 used needles a week in parks across the Bronx — prompting desperate city officials to install dozens of syringe-disposal kiosks in hopes of cleaning up the dangerous mess.
There has been a dramatic gain in the number of syringes found in parks in the Bronx in recent years because of the ongoing opioid epidemic, city Health Department officials say.
The 60 kiosks, which will be locked trash boxes placed in the hardest-hit Bronx parks, are part of a $60 million HealingNYC program to combat the drug plague, announced Monday.
The plan will also include outreach from needle-exchange programs to users who shoot up in parks.
“Everyone deserves parks that are safe and clean,” said Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. “Our goal is to protect parkgoers and to offer a helping hand to those struggling with addiction.”
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2 comments:
Any who is willing to destroy their own body by injecting drugs will not give one hoot about protecting a public park and those who visit it with their children.
They should do what New Jersey did, which is offer free needles - even without an exchange.
I guess they did that for the addicts that were just too lazy to go down to the Jersey Shore and pick them up off the beach.
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