With just four weeks left in office, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched the country’s first legal shooting galleries Tuesday morning, calling them safe havens for addicts — shortly before five people overdosed at just one of the clinics on opening day.
“Overdose Prevention Centers are a safe and effective way to address the opioid crisis. I’m proud to show cities in this country that after decades of failure, a smarter approach is possible,” de Blasio said in a statement.
The nonprofit-run centers, New York Harm Reduction Educators on E. 126th Street in Harlem and Washington Heights’ CORNER Project on W. 180th Street, opened Tuesday.
There were five overdoses at the East Harlem site that saw 85 users inject drugs laced with fentanyl including heroin on Tuesday.
“We have had some overdoses today,” Kailin See, senior director of programs at New York Harm Reduction Educators, told The Post.
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“They survived,” she said.
The Washington Heights CORNER Project barred press from visiting the site or speaking to staff. A rep for the nonprofit did not respond to questions, but the owner of a nearby business said he saw someone taken away in an ambulance.
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