VIDEO – THE HARLEM SHUFFLE –
Aug. 7, 2026 – In a back room behind a colorful facade in northern Manhattan, drug users are smoking crack while nearby cubicles stand ready for heroin users to wrap tourniquets around their arms and inject themselves with new, sterilized needles. Supporters say the supervised drug-use sites reduce overdose deaths and street drug use and serve as a model for the rest of the country. But critics say the centers are magnets for hard drug users and dealers, leaving the local community feeling less safe.
“It’s scary for the kids walking into school in the morning, seeing people in that state,” said an educator at a nearby school who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
