New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's first budget quietly makes permanent a program that pays users 20 cents per returned syringe, extending an initiative launched under Local Law 124 of 2022 and drawing sharp criticism from Republicans who say opioid settlement money should fund treatment, not payouts to addicts.

The New York Post reported the $3 million line item Saturday, one day after the Council approved the $125.8 billion spending plan.

The Health Department's Community Syringe Redemption Program pays participants 20 cents per used syringe, capped at 50 syringes and $10 per day, and operates out of eight sites concentrated in the Bronx, with one each in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, according to the agency's program page.

Boston nonprofit Addiction Response Resources runs the pilot under an $11.1 million contract that extends through the end of next year, the New York Post reported.

The Council's final $125.8 billion budget, passed June 30 in a 45-6 vote, folded the program into ongoing operations without floor debate.

Funding comes from more than $189 million in opioid settlement dollars the city has secured from manufacturers and distributors.

Council Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala's 2022 pilot legislation authorized the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to set payment at up to 20 cents per syringe, and the agency formally adopted implementing rules in May 2024.

The pilot began in March 2025 and has collected more than 2.3 million syringes since, the department said, in figures cited by the Post.

Councilwoman Joann Ariola, R-Queens, told the Post the settlement cash "should all be going toward addiction treatment services," not payouts, calling the program a subsidy for continued drug use.

Councilman Oswald Feliz, D-Bronx, whose district contains two of the drop-off sites, credited the cleanup effect but warned that used needles still turn up near schools and playgrounds.

Supporters point to a measurable drop in street litter.

Sanitation Department workers had collected 26,229 needles this year as of Wednesday, less than half of the 64,560 they collected over the same period in 2025, the Post reported.

Health Department spokesperson Rachel Vick said the initiative allows residents in the hardest-hit neighborhoods to "safely dispose of medical waste" while connecting them to care.

First-year distribution reached more than 1,700 participants, who collectively received $292,000, the agency said.

The permanent designation locks the buyback into the city's public health infrastructure without expanding it.

There are no plans to add drop-off sites or lift the 50-syringe daily cap, though some participants told the Post they want both.