Nearly 2,700 People Died Of Overdoses In NYC During 2021: New Data

City health officials released the grim tally Thursday, just days after advocates sharply criticized the slow release of the life-or-death data from the past two years. The figures don't include any data from 2022, but show that overdoses the year before continued a tragic upward trend. Overdose deaths in 2021 were 78 percent higher than just two year prior, the data shows. Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said the deaths are all the more heartbreaking because many were preventable. “As a city we must use every evidence-based tool at our disposal...