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Since last June, New York City’s four free public health vending machines have sold more than 18,000 items, ranging from COVID tests and safer-sex products to fentanyl test strips and 2,100 naloxone kits to reverse overdoses, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
When the health department first announced the program in January 2022, it planned to install 10 similar machines across the borough with roughly $750,000 in funding from the city.
But the four existing machines (all located on the east side of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, two in Queens) will be the last, as the program quietly stopped new installations in May of this year.
The effort secured funding for 10 machines, but department spokeswoman Rachel Vick said there weren’t enough qualified organizations interested in managing them to get all 10 up and running.
The vending machines are designed to provide easy access to overdose prevention and public health supplies, and the program is part of a growing Vending Machine Initiative movement in more than 30 states, spearheaded by public health advocates looking for low-barrier ways to distribute life-saving items.
The vending machine doesn’t actually “sell” anything: everything in the store is free, and customers simply enter their New York City zip code before choosing an item.
Each machine is managed by a different community organization and stocks items tailored to the specific needs of each community, but they all stock harm reduction products for drug users, COVID testing kits, personal hygiene products, safer sex kits, and more.
The nonprofit group Services for the UnderServed installed the city’s first machine in Bushwick last June, garnering a lot of media attention.
The Queens County AIDS Center installed vending machines in Far Rockaway and Jamaica last November, while VOCAL-NY, which organizes and supports low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, installed its fourth and final vending machine in Brooklyn’s East New York in May.
The city planned to install the machines in one of 12 priority neighborhoods identified as having high rates of fatal drug overdoses and lacking harm-reduction resources, but it only placed two in those neighborhoods, in Far Rockaway and East New York, both of which have higher fatal drug overdose rates than the city average, according to data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Bushwick resident Maritza Altruz regularly gets free menstrual products from the machine at Decatur and Broadway, but complained that it was the only machine like it she’d ever seen in her neighborhood.
“It should be installed in other areas too,” she told The City last week, speaking near the site. “These machines should be installed everywhere, especially in areas where there are large numbers of people who need them.”
When the first machines were installed, some local residents feared they would encourage drug use in the area and called for their removal.
“People are often apprehensive at first because it’s unconventional,” said Erika Vasquez, who manages two Queens machines, “but they provide so much more than supplies for drug users.”
Sidney Atkinson, 36, who owns a barber shop on Central Avenue in Far Rockaway, said he initially worried that placing the vending machines across the street would bring new drug users into the area.
“The first few weeks were bad,” he says, “but people are using it, and others have forgotten about it and are continuing with business as usual.”
Alternative sources of funding
While all of the machines stock naloxone and safe-sex products, each one has a variety of supplies selected by the organization based on their local activities. Vending machines often also stock toothbrushes, wound care kits, and sometimes safe drug injection kits.
“This is to make sure people don’t die from lack of resources,” Vásquez said.
While the health department has vowed to expand services to prevent overdose deaths, it currently has no plans to expand the vending machine program to other areas.
“The Department of Health is proud to partner with community organizations that are installing public health vending machines to facilitate access to life-saving and dignity-preserving supplies,” Vick said.
Other organisations are now turning to alternative funding sources.
Adrienne Abbate, president of the Partnership for Community Wellness on Staten Island, said her group expressed interest in the city from the beginning of the process to place vending machines in the borough, which is home to two high-priority neighborhoods on the North Shore.
As THE CITY reported, the group applied for opioid settlement funds to set up its own machines, separate from the health department’s project.
“This machine could be critical for many at-risk individuals,” Abbate said. “We will explore various funding options to bring this machine to Staten Island.”
The Matters Network, an organization contacted by the state health department to improve direct services to people struggling with addiction, began working to install vending machines across the city after the New York City Health Department’s vending machine program ended with no plans for expansion.
Shelby Arena of Matters Network said the company has installed 14 vending machines across the state and plans to install more than 50.
Arena said the organization is partnering with the Doo Foundation to install one machine by the end of the year in Crotona Park East, an area of the Bronx where there is a high need.
But for other organizations, expanding outreach and in-person services is a higher priority.
Steven Hernandez of St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction in the Bronx said vending machines shouldn’t be an excuse for not funding other social services.
“It’s like saying you don’t need a fire department but you have fire extinguishers in your neighborhood,” Hernandez said. “It just doesn’t match the need.”
Why just my community?
Meanwhile, a vending machine in Bushwick was out of service due to broken glass when The City visited last week, but an advocacy group for the underserved said it was expected to be repaired by the end of the week.
“I don’t know where to get naloxone,” said a frustrated Johnny Miranda as he watched the machine malfunction on Wednesday. “This machine could have saved my friend’s life.”
According to VOCAL-NY, distribution of naloxone at the East New York vending machine more than doubled from May to June, from 24 kits to 59, said Paula Santiago, who manages and coordinates the vending machine’s inventory.
“People are using it because they need it,” Santiago said. “Materials like fentanyl and xylazine test strips are selling out,” she said.
Victor Vazquez, 26, who works at a pharmacy right next to the vending machines, said he sees about a dozen people using the machines every day at work.
“This is a poor area and there are a lot of people with substance use issues who may not be able to afford what’s in there, so this could be a lifesaver,” Vasquez said.
But the plan has drawn more opposition in Far Rockaway, where the machines have been installed since mid-November. When the city made the area a priority area for the machines, its overdose rate was below the city average.
“This is a quiet neighborhood, right next to a school,” said Joanna Cebilos, who works at a salon near the machine. “Put it in Brooklyn. Don’t put it here.”
Atkinson, the barber shop owner, said the vending machines remain a point of contention among neighbors.
“I know it’s there for a reason, to help the people it’s there for,” Atkinson said, “but why is it in my neighborhood and not in yours? And not in Manhattan?”
