At a growing number of NYC restaurants and bars, hospitality includes overdose prevention kits (Via EaterNY)
, which intends to make Narcan training more widespread, and to share information on how to receive a kit by mail. She wants to provide tools for nightlife workers, promoters, and patrons.
In February, councilmembers Chi Ossé and Keith Powers introduced a bill that would require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to provide New York City bars and nightclubs with naloxone and associated training: “This is a public health bill that will have an outsized positive impact on Black and brown New Yorkers,” Ossé.
“It’s really important to mention that drug use really is prevalent in all types of scenarios in peoples’ day lives, nightlifes, all types of professions and demographics,” Palitz says. “We’re always careful not to frame nightlife as the source of the liability of drug use. But we also see the nightlife community as a place where people can take care of each other. In the pandemic alone, the [industry] is taking a more compassionate, empathetic approach.
Olivia Hu, co-owner of the roller disco-themed bar All Night Skate in Bed-Stuy, tells Eater the team hasfentanyl testing strips purchased online, at their own cost, in their bathroom. The fentanyl strips are in addition to Narcan on-site, which the team has been trained to use. “Thank you neighbor for taking good care of your patrons,” one commenter responded on the team’s Instagram post, which read, “Safety is our #1 priority.