Exclusive | Mamdani administration makes cash-for-syringes pilot program permanent

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, $292,0...