Health: trends to watch for the future of NYC

The start of 2022 marks a transition point between Bill de Blasio’s eight years at the helm of New York and the arrival of Mayor Eric Adams. A mmajority new city council also just took office.

Starting today, THE CITY is giving New York City a health check by tracking its vital signs year by year on health, povertycrime, housing, the environment, homelessness, transportation and education, showing the progress made during de Blasio’s terms in the pandemic — and the scenery set for Adams.


The coronavirus pandemic has taken a terrible toll on New Yorkers, killing 35,203 people as of December 27. The city medical examiner recorded more than twice as many deaths in the year that ended June 30, 2020, as the previous pre-COVID year. But a little hope is on the horizon: while COVID is still claiming victims, 2021 has had far fewer deaths than 2020.

During the pandemic, fatal drug overdoses have reached record levels, exceeding 2,000 per year. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people into self-isolation and broken support systems, accelerating overdose deaths, with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl accounting for the majority of drug-induced lives lost.

The Bronx had the highest drug overdose rate in the city, with neighborhoods such as Hunts Point-Mott Haven and Crotona-Tremont reporting rates more than twice as high as the city.

To combat the outbreak, de Blasio in December 2021 authorized two supervised injection sites, where people are given clean needles and naloxone is available to reverse overdoses.

New York City cut its uninsured population by more than half in the 10 years to 2019, with the most dramatic declines reported in 2014 and 2015 after the state opened its statewide market programs to New York health. The insurance exchange allows residents to purchase insurance plans, including those subsidized under the federal Affordable Care Act.

In 2019, 6.9% of the population was uninsured: 2% of children under 19 and 8.3% of people aged 19 and over.

As of January 2021, nearly 3 million New Yorkers were enrolled in insurance plans through New York State Health, which was created under the Affordable Care Act. This was spurred by the pandemic, with registrations increasing by around half a million from February 2020 to January 2021.

Read our coverage on health. For the figures related to the coronavirus, consult our tracker.

Maria J. Book