CRAINSNEWYORK.COM I SEPTEMBER 4, 2023
CITY’S USE OF OPIOID SETTLEMENT THREATENED BY
LAX OVERSIGHT, LIMITED FUNDS By Amanda D’Ambrosio
New York state in the next 18 years will distribute up to $2.6 billion in settlements from lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors including Johnson & Johnson, CVS and Walgreens over their role in the opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of at least 30,000 New Yorkers. Meantime, New York City will distribute its own, separate settlement of $286 million. Despite the influx of settlement money, the opioid epidemic has persisted in the city, with overdose deaths rising almost every year since 2010. While no one expected an overnight fix, watchdog groups say efforts to reduce overdose deaths have been further threatened by a lack of transparency in the city’s spending of settlement funds and the reality that the money simply is not enough to make a dent in the nation’s most pressing public health crisis. The city’s approach to managing its funds stands in contrast to the state’s, because it secured separate settlement agreements in the past few years that give the city more leeway. While the state has appointed an advisory board and reported on its spending, the city has kept conversations about how to spend the funds behind closed doors. Watchdogs say that’s a problem. “There's a lot of wiggle room in there [on what] to spend the
BY THE NUMBERS
$286M 2,668
DRUG OVERDOSE deaths in 2021 in the city
$20K
TO TREAT an individual with an opioid use disorder
ISTOCK/CRAIN’S COMPOSITE
IN FUNDS for the city
See OPIOID on Page 18
A look at the firm behind the city’s migrant contracts A no-bid $432 million agreement is only one component of DocGo’s dealings with New York City that are under fire from elected officials By Caroline Spivack
City officials early this year hired DocGo, a Midtown-based health care company and regular city contractor, to shepherd migrants upstate. Then reports surfaced in late July that migrants had been misled with promises about finding work and mistreated once they arrived at hotels near Albany and Buffalo. Now, Attorney General Letitia James, among others, is investigating whether DocGo violated state or federal laws in its treatment of people in its care. The city awarded the for-profit firm a $432 million no-bid contract beginning in May, a procurement shortcut made possible
when Mayor Eric Adams declared and services to 4,000 people in 28 a state of emergency in October hotels, according to city officials. In addition to the no-bid conover the ongoing migrant crisis. The company previously con- tract awarded by the Department of Housing Preservatracted with the city to tion and Developprovide Covid-19 testBY THE ment, the city Health + ing, vaccinations and NUMBERS Hospitals system this homeless health sersummer extended an vices under the umbrelexisting migrant serla of Ambulnz, a DocGo The value of vices contract with subsidiary. DocGo as of DocGo for $311 milDespite a lack of a Aug. 17. lion. track record with immiIf the company gration services, Docmanages to reap the Go’s arrangement with the city requires the company to maximum value of the two concover a variety of asylum seekers’ tracts—more than $740 milneeds, including transportation, lion—it would dramatically outlodging, case management and pace the $440 million in medical care. DocGo has provided shelter See CONTRACT on Page 22
$889M
Anthony Capone
Lee Bienstock
Norm Rosenberg
Despite a lack of a track record with immigration services, DocGo has contracted with the city to cover a variety of asylum seekers’ needs. | AMBULNZ, LINKEDIN, ALLIANCE FOR JUSTICE
VOL. 39, NO. 30 l COPYRIGHT 2023 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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PET-FRIENDLY Long Island City pet ownership surges, creating demand for services.
POWER CORNER A civil rights lawyer talks about working with a mayor who’s a friend.
GOTHAM GIGS An entrepreneur in the South Bronx is bringing capital to disadvantaged neighborhoods.
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