In East Harlem, the chaos surrounding New York City’s taxpayer-funded “safe” injection sites has reached a disturbing new extreme. What began as controversial drug-use facilities is now spilling into the streets with addicts openly engaging in sexual acts in broad daylight — sometimes right outside residents’ homes.
A recent New York Post investigation captured one graphic scene near the East Harlem headquarters of OnPoint, a nonprofit that brands itself as helping “marginalized people who use drugs or engage in sex work.” On a recent afternoon, passersby watched as a couple remained in a sexual encounter for 15 minutes, seemingly unfazed by the presence of pedestrians.
The East Harlem Family Network, a group advocating for children’s safety in the neighborhood, blasted city leaders, asking, “Why wait for Trump to take the win?” The frustration is shared by residents like Shkigale Baker, who lives across from the site. She described watching people lay down blankets, undress, and conduct sexual acts in full public view. “They have sex in our yards, they defecate behind our cars. It’s a mess,” she said.
The OnPoint site, along with a second location in Washington Heights, opened in 2021. Since then, the nonprofit has received $16.4 million in taxpayer money from the city’s Department of Health, much of it coming from New York’s share of the opioid settlement with the Sackler family — the creators of OxyContin. OnPoint’s annual budget has ballooned from $2.6 million in 2021 to $17.4 million in 2024.
While the nonprofit claims to have prevented 1,800 overdoses, critics point to the roughly 38,000 instances of drug use at the sites in the past year — many involving fentanyl — as proof the program fuels addiction rather than curbs it. Neighbors say the streets around the centers have become magnets for drug use, intoxication, and now sexual activity, making life increasingly unsafe and unlivable.
Eyewitness accounts match the Post’s reporting: a man openly performing sex acts, zipping up, and casually walking away while his female partner called after him. The brazen behavior has left residents both disgusted and feeling abandoned by city leadership.
Opponents argue that “safe injection” sites are a failed experiment, providing cover for destructive lifestyles instead of pushing addicts toward recovery. Without personal commitment to getting clean, they say, the end result is too often prison or death — and taxpayer money is now subsidizing the path there.
For East Harlem residents, the reality is grim: children are walking past drug users and sexual activity on their way to school, and long-time community members feel powerless to stop it. The city’s focus on harm reduction, critics say, has created an environment where anything goes — and where ordinary people are left to deal with the consequences.
As one neighbor put it, “It’s disgusting. I just couldn’t believe it.” For them, the problem isn’t just about drugs or sex in public — it’s about a city government that seems more committed to accommodating chaos than restoring order.
If the trajectory continues, East Harlem could be the case study for how far progressive policies can push a neighborhood toward collapse — and how hard it is to pull it back.