By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday heralded new data released by the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene that indicate a significant decrease in overdose deaths in the Big Apple in 2024—marking the first substantial decrease following a nearly 10-year period of increasing overdose deaths in the five boroughs.
There were 2,192 deaths last year, down from 3,056 in 2023, mirroring national trends, and overdose deaths decreased almost universally across demographic groups and neighborhoods in 2024. Additionally, residents of all five boroughs saw decreases in overdose deaths and, for the first time since 2018, overdose deaths decreased among Black and Latino New Yorkers; however, significant racial and geographic inequities persist, according to the DOHMH report.
Earlier this summer, Adams announced that New York City saw the lowest quarter in five years for opioid overdose deaths while making further investments to drive down opioid overdoses. In 2023, Gotham saw a slight decline for the first time since 2018 in overdose deaths.
Despite seeing promising decreases, inequities in overdose deaths still persist in NYC. Black and Latino New Yorkers each saw a 29-percent reduction in overdose deaths but died at twice the rate of their white counterparts. While the rate of fatal overdose decreased 24 percent among Bronx residents, the borough continues to have the highest rate of overdose deaths—at more than double the rate of Manhattan, the borough with the second-highest rate. The rate of overdose deaths among Staten Island residents decreased by about 49 percent. Residents of Hunts Point-Mott Haven, Highbridge-Morrisania, Crotona-Tremont, East Harlem, and Fordham-Bronx Park continued to bear the greatest burden of overdose deaths in 2024.
In January 2018, the City sued manufacturers and distributors of prescription opioids to remedy the harms caused within the city by the misleading marketing and improper distribution of these drugs. State Attorney General Tish James filed a similar lawsuit in March 2019. Settlements reached by both the City and the State, as well as a court victory by James, have provided the City alone with nearly $190 million as of the end of Fiscal Year 2025, which, with the most recent settlement, is expected to grow to a total of more than $550 million by 2041. In April 2022, Adams and James announced allocations for the first of hundreds of millions of dollars coming to NYC to combat the opioid crisis. In September 2024, Adams announced City funding will ramp up to an annual $50 million for opioid prevention and treatment.
“While we are finally seeing the needle move on fatal overdoses across the city, too many New Yorkers still continue to die from preventable deaths,” said DOHMH Acting Commissioner Michelle Morse, M.D. “As city leaders, we must be steadfast in our support of programs that save lives, while we continue to address historic disinvestment and other forms of structural racism. I am grateful for the tireless dedication of advocates, local providers, Health Department staff, and partners inside and outside government as we work to keep our communities and neighbors safe and connected to care.”
