Apply Common Sense: Close NYC’s ‘Safe’ Drug Sites

In November, Donald Trump gained substantial electoral support within New York’s black and Latino communities, particularly in the city’s most economically disadvantaged areas. He is now set to take a crucial step towards enhancing public safety in these neighborhoods.

Last week, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI) reached out to new Attorney General Pam Bondi, requesting the administration to close the city’s two “safe injection sites.”

These facilities, located in East Harlem and Washington Heights, are designed to supervise drug users as they consume dangerous substances like fentanyl, meth, heroin, and cocaine.

Under federal law, these substances are illegal, and the federal “crack house statute” prohibits individuals from maintaining properties for drug consumption.

Trump’s Justice Department has a history of successfully closing down similar sites.

In 2019, during his first term, the administration filed a lawsuit to prevent a Philadelphia injection center from opening, and in 2024, a US District Court judge in Pennsylvania ruled that the center was not exempt from federal drug laws.

This ruling was a significant relief to the nearby Philadelphia community, which was outraged by the lack of transparency surrounding plans that could draw drug dealers into their area.

Trump should now heed the concerns of his NYC minority constituents and close the injection sites that are damaging their neighborhoods.

OnPoint, a nonprofit running New York’s two centers, was the first organization in the nation to establish such facilities, opening in 2021 under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio — who never hesitated to promote harmful policies in the name of racial justice.

De Blasio successfully anticipated that the Biden administration would not intervene.

While OnPoint claims to have saved over 1,000 lives by preventing overdoses, my colleague Charles Fain Lehman has noted that these sites do not actually reduce addiction — suggesting they may merely be delaying fatalities: over 15% of those who received naloxone are deceased within a year.

Statistics indicate that overdose rates in NYC have continued to climb since the facilities were established.

This trend is unsurprising, given that a thorough examination of data from similarly touted injection sites in other countries shows no evidence of their effectiveness.

Yet, rigor is rarely a priority for politicians and advocates who sacrifice other communities on the altar of compassion.

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) has asserted that “public drug use, syringe litter, and drug-related crime declines” around these sites. In 2023, Rivera urged Gov. Hochul to expand supervised consumption sites across the state and sponsored Senate legislation — currently still in committee — to facilitate this expansion.

Additionally, in 2023, Mayor Eric Adams proposed establishing three more facilities in NYC — although he may be open to reevaluating his stance with some federal pressure.

Such pressure would be warranted if Trump truly cares about the welfare of local residents.

Even though major crimes have dropped 13% in northern Manhattan over the last two years, the predominantly black and Hispanic precinct near the East Harlem drug site has experienced nearly an 8% increase in major crime.

I recently toured that area with the Greater Harlem Coalition. Members highlighted a large early childhood education center right across the street from the injection site, where parents hurried their young children into school in plain sight of ongoing drug transactions.

The block is filled with individuals under the influence, and nearby restaurants have invested in private security to protect against the criminal activity that these centers attract to the neighborhood.

What has kept this site operational despite four years of evident decline in neighborhood quality?

Unapologetic advocacy from self-righteous, ideologically driven, and race-obsessed elites . . . whose children don’t attend pre-schools in Harlem.

In August, Greater Harlem Coalition co-founder Shawn Hill was interviewed by one such disingenuous advocate: Ryan McNeil, director of harm reduction research at Yale’s School of Medicine.

McNeil was conducting funded “research” into safe injection sites — but as captured in a “hot mic” moment, he and his collaborator were determined to manipulate their findings to favor safe injection sites (and drug decriminalization, in general).

In a moment of irony, McNeil — who identifies as Caucasian — dismissed local residents’ objections to open drug use as merely “white discomfort” and mocked Hill’s suggestion that the Yale researchers should engage directly with the community.

However, Trump has ample reason to heed the voices of these locals, three-quarters of whom are black or Latino.

It would be prudent for Adams, who faces a competitive primary election this summer, to reverse his previous position and support a federal initiative to close the city’s two drug consumption sites.

In East Harlem, Trump garnered approximately 860 more votes last year than in 2020. Now, these supporters, along with their yet-to-be-persuaded neighbors, are counting on his assistance.

Hannah E. Meyers is a fellow and the director of policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute.