St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction in Longwood is working to open the first overdose prevention center in the Bronx – but the plan is facing delays amid the quest for community buy-in and funding.

Year after year, the South Bronx leads New York City in drug overdose deaths, and neighborhoods there are facing a harder toll as fatalities continue to rise. Mayor Eric Adams has identified the area as a priority location for a new overdose prevention center. These facilities, which are also known as supervised injection sites, let people use risky illicit drugs like fentanyl under the oversight of trained staff.

But St. Ann’s is caught amid an ongoing debate over where these sites should be located and whether they will attract more drug activity to surrounding neighborhoods.

A spokesperson for St. Ann’s first approached Gothamist in late May with the news that the community center would be opening a supervised injection room by the end of June.

But that plan had been scrapped by the time Gothamist toured the site on Westchester Avenue last week, after succumbing to pushback from local leaders.