Led by NYPD, Joint-Agency Operation Focuses on Public Health and Safety Concerns
“Every day, we are working to make our city safer and the best place to raise a family, and today’s announcement will now bring our successful ‘Community Link’ model to ‘The Hub.’ Through this multi-agency operation, we’ll work to address substance abuse, mental health, homeless outreach, sanitation, and other quality-of-life issues that prevent this part of the South Bronx from reaching its full capacity,” said Mayor Adams. “Over the last 19 months, ‘Community Link’ has responded to over 1,200 complaints and conducted 1,200 operations — making these neighborhoods safer one action at a time. Through these joint operations, we will continue to improve quality of life on every block, in every neighborhood, and in every borough across our city.”
“Through our ‘Community Link’ initiative, the city has been guided by comprehensive, community-driven solutions to ensure that no neighborhood is overlooked or underserved,” said Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Administration Camille Joseph Varlack. “We are proud to expand this program to directly confront the longstanding quality-of-life issues in ‘The Hub.’ For too long, the South Bronx has had to deal with their challenges alone, but by working alongside our community partners and this broad coalition of agencies, I am confident that we will drive real change, and continue our work making New York the safest big city in the nation.”
“When neighborhoods are plagued by quality-of-life issues, New Yorkers simply don’t feel safe,” said NYPD Commissioner Tisch. “This multi-agency strategy will address the problems that people are seeing every day on Melrose Avenue that contribute to this sense of disorder without unduly punishing people who are struggling with mental health crises. We know this model works and have seen the results in communities across the city.”
“At the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, we are committed to meeting New Yorkers where they are and supporting access to evidence-based services,” said DOHMH Acting Commissioner Dr. Morse. “I’m grateful to all of our partners on the ground for their tireless work.”
Alongside the NYPD and DOHMH, the multi-agency effort also includes the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), and the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), with all agencies focused on homeless outreach and maintaining street cleanliness. Additionally, the city works closely with non-profit providers that have long-standing roots in the community to deliver services and deepen community trust.
This announcement builds on an intensive surge by Community Link in The Hub between October 3, 2024 and November 3, 2024. During that time, DHS had 880 engagements and placed over 45 individuals in shelter. DHS outreach teams continue to canvass the neighborhood every Tuesday through Thursday and DHS’ non-profit provider Bronx Works operates in the area multiple times a day between Tuesday through Saturday, ensuring there is always sustained outreach by DHS in the neighborhood. DHS has also assigned crisis coordinators to the area to offer homeless outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness.
DOHMH has been working closely with community partners and service providers to engage New Yorkers in the area who are struggling with substance use disorder by connecting them to care and resources to lead a healthy life. DOHMH funds four contracted syringe service programs to conduct community engagement and daily outreach in the area, and partners with local providers to promote referrals to care. There are seven syringe service program sites in the Hunts Point-Mott Haven neighborhood, offering sterile syringe access, overdose prevention education, naloxone training, and a broad range of other health and social services. In the Hunts Point-Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx — home to The Hub — DOHMH has distributed more than 16,500 naloxone kits in 2024.
In addition to supporting syringe service programs near The Hub, DOHMH also funds substance use disorder treatment options. Last fall, Mayor Adams announced the administration’s plan to ramp up annual support for opioid prevention and treatment to $50 million, using funds from major settlements secured by the city and New York Attorney General Letitia James against opioid manufacturers and distributors. With the support of these funds, DOHMH is working to expand access to low-threshold medications for opioid use disorder treatment, with a focus on prioritizing expansion among populations at highest risk of fatal overdose, and has released a Request for Proposals for licensed outpatient and opioid treatment programs citywide. These efforts are just part of DOHMH’s larger overdose response strategy in The Hub and throughout the Bronx. More than 56,000 naloxone kits have been distributed across 288 opioid overdose prevention program sites across the Bronx in 2024. There are 12 opioid overdose prevention programs in the Hunts Point-Mott Haven neighborhood, providing naloxone, overdose education, and other resources, serving 55 sites around The Hub.
DSNY has increased trash collection of public garbage cans in the area to three times per day, and vending enforcement teams are visiting the area on a weekly basis, conducting enforcement of unlicensed or improper vending. The DOT — which is responsible for the maintenance of Roberto Clemente Plaza — is conducting surveys of neighborhood roadways and sidewalks to determine if any maintenance, lighting, or other repairs are needed. The DOB will identify owners of problematic buildings and conduct enforcement on any buildings violating building codes. DOB will also assist in the removal of any long-term scaffolding sheds.
Today’s announcement adds The Hub to Mayor Adams’ Community Link initiative — launched in 2023 to bring together various city departments and agencies to collaborate with local communities and business leaders as they address complex and often chronic community complaints that require a multi-agency response. Since its inception, Community Link has already convened five community improvement coalitions throughout the five boroughs. Focused in “hot spot” areas, Community Link is active at 125th Street, on the 110th Street Corridor, in Midtown West, on East 14th Street, and in Washington Square Park in Manhattan, as well on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. Over the last 19 months, Community Link has responded to over 1,200 complaints and conducted over 1,200 operations to address quality-of-life concerns raised by the communities they serve.
Mayor Adams has made supporting New York City’s most vulnerable, including those experiencing serious mental illness and homelessness, a top priority. The Adams administration recently announced unprecedented action to curb homelessness and support people experiencing severe mental illness with a $650 million investment in outreach, safe haven and runaway homeless youth beds, and more. The announcement — which was first unveiled as part of Mayor Adams’ 2025 State of the City — also includes the creation of ‘Bridge to Home,’ a first-of-its-kind model that will provide a supportive, home-like environment to patients with serious mental illness who are ready for discharge from the hospital but do not have a place to go. The Adams administration has made the largest investment in New York City history in creating specialized shelter beds to address street homelessness. The city has opened 1,400 Safe Haven and stabilization beds since the start of the administration and doubled the number of street outreach teams.
Today’s announcement also builds on recent achievements in seizing guns and reducing crime across New York City. In 2024, New York City concluded with a nearly 3 percent reduction in overall index crime. Overall index crime continued to decrease January 2025, with a 16.8 percent drop, the largest one-month decrease since before Mayor Adams came into office. In January 2025, the Adams administration also announced the NYPD had removed more than 20,500 illegal firearms from New York City streets since the beginning of the administration — approximately 3,000 more guns off city streets than the previous three-year period from 2019 to 2021. Because of the Adams administration’s steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, homicides and shootings have consistently declined over the last three years — with homicides decreasing a total of 22.7 percent and shootings decreasing 42.2 percent since Mayor Adams was sworn in on January 1, 2022. Additionally, 2024 was the fourth lowest year in recorded history for shooting incidents citywide.
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