Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has made permanent a disputed needle buyback initiative that offers cash for used syringes, a decision opponents argue could send the wrong message about illegal drug use.
New York City’s $126 billion budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 sets aside $3 million to continue the Health Department’s Community Syringe Redemption Program, which pays participants 20 cents for each syringe they return.
The move was disclosed with little public attention in budget materials the agency submitted to the City Council on June 30, just before lawmakers signed off on Mamdani’s first mayoral spending plan.
Addiction Response Resources, the nonprofit that started a comparable effort in Boston in 2020, will keep running New York City’s program under an $11.1 million contract that extends through the end of next year.
Under the program, individuals may turn in as many as 50 used syringes a day, earning up to $10, at eight approved drop-off locations: five in the Bronx and one apiece in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.
City officials currently have no plans to broaden the effort, which is aimed at removing hazardous needles from streets, parks and other public and private spaces. The initiative was first authorized as a pilot program under 2022 legislation supported by progressive City Council members and formally launched in March 2025.
Funding for the program comes from more than $189 million in opioid settlement money New York City obtained from major drug manufacturers and distributors.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) sharply criticized the spending, saying the settlement funds “should all be going toward addiction treatment services — not for paying users to turn in their needles for cash.”
“All this is doing is putting money in the pockets of addicts, so they can continue to fuel their habits, rather than helping them break free of their disease.”
More than 2.3 million needles have been collected through the program since it began as a pilot nearly 16 months ago, according to the Health Department. During its first year, $292,000 in cash was handed out to more than 1,700 participants, officials said.
The program’s popularity has meant fewer needles for the Sanitation Department to pick up — but the agency insists it is devoting the same resources to needle removal in parks and other public places as it did before the program started.
Sanitation workers as of Wednesday had collected 26,229 needles this year — or nearly three times less than the 64,560 they picked up during the same period in 2025, according to the agency.
Councilman Oswald Feliz, a Bronx Democrat whose district is home to two of the drop-off sites in Fordham Heights and Tremont, credited the clean-up effort but warned about the environment the program enables.
“Too often, used syringes end up in front of schools and children’s parks, and this is an issue that should be treated with the seriousness it deserves,” he said. “We should not recklessly create conditions that can threaten the safety of vulnerable communities.”
Some admitted drug users hailed the news — but pined for more drop-off sites and no limits on how many syringes they could bring.
“It’s definitely a side hustle for me. Yeah, definitely!” crowed Tamia Wright, 43, after returning needles at Walter Gladwin Park in The Bronx on Thursday. “Right now, I’m gonna buy some weed with [the earnings] and cigarettes.”
Health Department spokesperson Rachel Vick touted the program, saying “everyone deserves to live in a community free of syringe litter” in public spaces.
“The city’s syringe redemption program allows New Yorkers in neighborhoods where we see the most complaints to help keep their communities clean, while safely disposing of medical waste and connecting people in need to nearby care,” said Vick.
“We look forward to continuing this important work in the years to come.”
