Overdose Deaths Decrease In Brooklyn, City Data Show

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Overdose deaths dropped in Brooklyn last year as the numbers of lives claimed by drugs rose in Manhattan, Staten Island and The Bronx, new city data show.

New York City saw its first drop in overdose deaths in seven years in 2018 with a total of 1,444 deaths, 82 fewer deaths in Brooklyn and 55 fewer in Queens, according to Health Department data released Monday.

“The decrease in drug overdose deaths is promising, but far too many New Yorkers are still dying,” said Health Commissioner Dr.Oxiris Barbot. "We remain firmly committed to expanding life-saving services and caring for New Yorkers who use drugs.”

Brooklyn-based initiatives to prevent drug overdoses included hosting opioid overdose trainings, certifying hundreds of residents to use the life-saving nasal spray Narcan, and offering treatment options instead of jail time to Brooklynites arrested with controlled substances, said Borough President Eric Adams and District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.

“No one should be dying of preventable overdoses,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. "Especially when we have all the tools to stop them"

Health Department initiatives include distributing 230,000 nalozone kits throughout the city, expanding syringe service programs and launching the mobile app, “Stop OD NYC,” to teach New Yorkers how to recognize an overdose and and reverse it with naloxone.

Overdose deaths increased among women by 7 percent, among Latinos by 5 percent and among New Yorkers between the ages of 55 and 84 in 2018, data show.

Men saw a 6 percent drop in drug overdose deaths, black New Yorkers saw a 13 percent drop and white New Yorkers saw a 5 percent drop in the same year, according to the Health Department.

Fentanyl — a synthetic opioid about 50 times stronger than heroin — was detected in 60% of all overdose deaths making it the most common substance identified in overdose deaths.

Cocaine was involved in 52% of overdose deaths in 2018, a rate that is more than double that of 2014.