Staten Island Fentanyl Task Force Demands New York Declare Emergency After More Than 800 Total Overdoses in Five Years

Politicians on Staten Island — where half of New York City's fentanyl deaths are happening — are calling on the state's governor to declare a state of emergency after a year that saw some 150 fatal overdoses from the potent drug.

In a report issued Wednesday, the Staten Island Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force demanded Gov. Kathy Hochul formalize such a proclamation, before more people end up dead.

The task force is comprised of more than 60 people, including borough and community leaders, police officials, healthcare professionals, and people who've lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning.

"The reality is, substance use disorder has become the scourge of our time, and I believe future generations are going to judge us based on how we handle this," explained task force member Dr. Brahim Ardolic, executive director at Staten Island University Hospital.

"This is something that we are not doing enough about nationally, and yet, if you compare Staten Island even to the nation, we are under resourced," Ardolic added.

Officials estimate that by the end of this month, 155 people will have lost their lives to drug overdoses in the borough in 2023 alone. Since 2016, more than 830 people have succumbed to overdoses on Staten Island.

"For far too long, Staten Islanders have suffered from the effects of fentanyl," Borough President Vito Fossella said in a statement. "By working with District Attorney McMahon and our partners in the community, through this task force we hope to educate, provide treatment to those that are suffering, and ultimately reduce this crisis."

It is believed fentanyl, often mixed with street drugs like heroin and cocaine, is linked to over 80 percent of the overdose deaths throughout New York City.

The five-month-old task force said in the report its members are "unwilling to allow the drug epidemic to take a backseat in our public and political discourse," or to "accept that record-high drug overdoses are something that we must accept as an unavoidable American reality."

If Hochul did proclaim a state of emergency, New York could take immediate action to implement the various recommendations outlined in the task force's report.

The report recommends immediate action be taken to stymie the production of fentanyl, and the trafficking of the substance onto New York soil, and that information be shared more readily between state agencies, to coordinate a more effective response.

The report also wants the state government to expand access to community programs designed to assist addicts, aggressively pursue federal drug prevention grants, and close medical and treatment gaps in the borough.