Drop Box For Syringes Set Up In Washington Heights Park As Heroin Use Soars
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With heroin use soaring, a city park now has a drop box for syringes – and it is a first for New York City.
As WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported, the drop box looks more like a 6-foot-tall planted daisy in its location on a pedestrian ramp a block from the George Washington Bridge. Three tubes jut out from the stem where the needles go.
"It's unobtrusive, but for those who are in the know, it's easily recognizable," said Sarah Deutsch of the Corner Project.
The nonprofit Corner Project has been cleaning up syringes for years and tracking where they turn up. The site near the bridge is a hot spot.
"We went to the Parks Department with our results," Deutsch said.
The group got the OK for a pilot. Deutsch is confident, because this kind of thing has a track record of success in other cities.
"For example, in Vancouver after implementing this similar project they saw a reduction of 30 percent of improperly disposed sharps," she said.