Syringe Exchange and Disposal
Access to and disposal of sterile syringes was the first service provided by SACHR when we opened nearly 30 years ago. The goal of our Syringe Access Program (SAP) is to provide clean needles at no cost for injecting drug users. When SACHR opened its doors in 1990, there was a 60% HIV incidence rate among the city’s 250,000 people who injected drugs. As a result of this and other similar program efforts, the HIV incidence rate in New York City has dropped to under 3% among people who inject drugs. We believe that by 2020, there may be zero new HIV infections through Injection Drug Use. We still continue to fight to lower the amount of overdoses, Hepatitis C and HIV infections, and stigma that the people we serve face every day.
Syringe Access
Photo credit: Kaytee Riek
Outreach Sites
We can be found at 139th St. and St. Ann’s Ave (where we’ve been doing outreach since 1990). Our schedule is as follows:
139th St. and St. Ann’s Ave
- Tues: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm at 139th
- Fri: 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm at 139th
148th St. and Bergen Ave
- Fri: 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
Peer Dispensed Syringe Delivery
If you are unable to access our locations during our hours of operation and find yourself in need of syringes and injection equipment, contact us and we’ll try to have one of our PDSE (Peer Dispensed Syringe Exchange Workers) meet you wherever you are. All contact is kept confidential. Contact Nelson Gonzalez at (646) 684 – 2059 or submit a request via the form below and we’ll have someone get back to you as soon as we can.
Request Syringe Delivery
If you or someone you know is in need of a Syringe Access Program outside of the Bronx, you can use the link below to access NASEN – North American Syringe Exchange Network for a directory of programs across New York State and the entire U.S.