Heroin Island (heroin + Staten Island)
The heroin epidemic on Staten Island made news in 2014 and 2015, creating the nicknames “Heroin’s New Hometown” and “Heroin Island.” “Heroin’s New Hometown: On Staten Island, Rising Tide of Heroin Takes Hold” by J. David Goodman and Michael Wilson was published in the New York (NY) Times on May 4, 2014.
“Welcome to Heroin Island: New York City’s Staten Island, an oasis of suburban quietude, has been ravaged by one of the worst opioid epidemics in the country” by Mike Spies, Dave Gutt and James Peterson was published on vocativ on August 21, 2014. The National Geographic Channel aired Drugs, Inc.: Heroin Island, NYC on November 18, 2015.
Wikipedia: Staten Island
Staten Island /ˌstætən ˈaɪlənd/ is one of the five boroughs of New York City, in the state of New York, in the United States. In the southwest of the city, Staten Island is the southernmost part of both the city and state of New York, with Conference House Park at the southern tip of the island and the state. The borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay. With a 2015 Census-estimated population of 474,558, Staten Island is the least populated of the boroughs but is the third-largest in area at 58 sq mi (150 km2). The borough is coextensive with Richmond County, and until 1975 was the Borough of Richmond.
WNYC
Radio Rookies
Published in Radio Rookies
Why Is Staten Island NYC’s OD Capital?
Feb 5, 2014
(...)
In New York City, the prescription painkiller abuse rates aren’t as high as the rest of the country — except on Staten Island, where their impact is wide and deep. The city’s health department says three times more people overdose from painkillers there than in the rest of the city. Radio Rookie Tasina Berkey set out to find out why Staten Island is struggling. Her reporting shows it’s easy for teenagers on Staten Island to get access to prescription painkillers. And increasingly, what comes next for some users is heroin. Why? Because it’s cheaper.
New York (NY) Times
Heroin’s New Hometown
On Staten Island, Rising Tide of Heroin Takes Hold
By J. DAVID GOODMAN and MICHAEL WILSON MAY 4, 2014
(...)
Staten Island, long a blue-collar bastion of police officers and other New York City workers, is confronting a heroin epidemic.
Thirty-six people died from heroin overdoses in 2012, the highest number in at least a decade, according to the most recent available city health department records; the death rate was higher than the city’s other four boroughs had seen in 10 years.
Twitter
Matt Interrante
@mattinterrante
These articles are more frequent these days… stick shocking to read. Staten Island = Heroin Island http://www.findadetoxnow.com/treating-staten-islands-heroin-addiction/ …
9:27 AM - 29 May 2014
vocativ
Welcome to Heroin Island
New York City’s Staten Island, an oasis of suburban quietude, has been ravaged by one of the worst opioid epidemics in the country
By Mike Spies, Dave Gutt and James Peterson
Aug 21, 2014 at 1:05 PM ET
The New York City borough of Staten Island is a largely white, middle-class bastion of cops and firemen. It is also home to one the country’s worst opioid epidemics. In a community of less than half a million people, every five days someone there dies from an opioid overdose, according to New York City’s Department of Health. Staten Island’s drug problem has gotten so bad, in fact, cops now walk the streets armed with naloxone, a drug that counteracts the life-threatening effects of opioid overdoses.
The crisis reflects a broader epidemic sweeping across New England that has ravaged primarily working- and middle-class communities. As in areas devastated by crack in the 1980s, in Staten Island local rappers have stepped up to chronicle the borough’s drug problems.
National Geographic Channel (November 2015)
DRUGS, INC.
HEROIN ISLAND, NYC
Heroin use on Staten Island is reaching epic proportions as young users leave prescription pills for dope. Meet the dealers, police officers and users overcome by the opiate.
Twitter
Adrian Rodriguez
@arodboriqua
Glad Staten Island is being categorized by being called heroin island on TV
9:58 PM - 18 Nov 2015
SILive.com (Staten Island, NY)
Nat Geo TV’s ‘Drugs, Inc.’ show spotlights ‘Heroin Island’
By Mark D. Stein | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
on November 19, 2015 at 12:42 PM, updated November 19, 2015 at 2:10 PM
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.—National Geographic Channel’s renowned series “Drugs, Inc.” has set its sights on Staten Island.
A new episode that aired Wednesday titled “Heroin Island, NYC” provided the nation with a glimpse at our borough, one ravaged by drug abuse.
The hour-long show focused on three components: A narcotics police unit in Plainfield, N.J.; a Staten Island addict, and two heroin dealers—a wholesaler from Newark, and a seasoned drug seller from the borough.
Industry
staten island’s crime fighter
06 Apr, 2016
from a crippling drug epidemic to soaring rates of domestic violence, district attorney michael mcmahon has his work cut out for him
by jennifer vikse
(...)
In addition to crime prevention, a growing heroin crisis—which has resulted in our community being dubbed “Heroin Island” and “Heroin’s New Hometown”—is at the forefront, killing as it is young people across the borough from all socio-economic backgrounds and changing the methodology of dealing with addiction and prevention. The borough is leading the City in overdose deaths, with someone dying approximately every other day.
NY1.com
NYPD Steps Up Initiatives to Curb Drug Overdoses on Staten Island
By Talia Kaplan
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 08:20 PM EDT
“You could clearly see my eyes and how high I was,” said Danielle Barbella of Eltingville, pointing to a picture taken when she was 26-years-old.
At the time, she says she was addicted to prescription pills, sometimes popping 30 a day.
(...)
“I hope that at one point we can go from ‘heroin island’ to one of the strongest recovery communities in the Unites States,” said Barbella.