In a move that’s raised eyebrows, the Mamdani administration has permanently implemented a hotly debated initiative offering cash to drug users for returning used syringes. Critics argue this could exacerbate illicit drug usage.
This decision, which sees $3 million channelled from the city’s expansive $126 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, is slated to support the Community Syringe Redemption Program by the Health Department. Participants are reimbursed 20 cents per returned syringe.
The subtle unveiling of this program came through budget documents quietly submitted to the NYC Council on June 30, right before the city’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, had his inaugural budget approved.
Addiction Response Resources, a nonprofit known for initiating a comparable setup in Boston back in 2020, will manage New York City’s version under an $11.1 million agreement extending through the following year.
Each day, participants are permitted to return as many as 50 used syringes—earning up to $10—at any of the eight designated drop-off points spread across the city: five in The Bronx, with the remaining sites in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.
There are no current plans to expand the program, which attempts to get hazardous syringes off city streets, parks and other property. It was initially approved as a pilot through legislation backed by far-left City Council members in 2022 and officially began in March 2025.
The program is being paid for through more than $189 million in settlement funds that the city secured from major opioid manufacturers and distributors.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) ripped the initiative, saying the settlement cash “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.”