The Mamdani administration has quietly made permanent a controversial pilot program that pays junkies cash for turning in used needles — a move critics contend will only encourage illegal drug use.
The city’s massive $126 billion budget for the new fiscal year that began July 1 includes $3 million to retain the Health Department’s Community Syringe Redemption Program, which pays the public 20 cents per syringe.
The announcement was made with little fanfare in budget documents the agency provided to the NYC Council on June 30, shortly before members approved Zohran Mamdani’s first spending plan as mayor.
Addiction Response Resources, a nonprofit that launched a similar program in Boston in 2020, will continue to operate the Big Apple’s program through an $11.1 million contract that runs through the end of next year.
Participants can return up to 50 used syringes per day — collecting $10 — by dropping them at eight designated sites: five in The Bronx, and one each 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.”
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