Syringe Collection Records in New York City Parks

Syringe collection records from New York City parks, detailing collection methods and dates. Data is collected by NYC Parks staff and partner organizations like the Washington Heights Corner Project and New York Harm Reduction Educators. The dataset is part of the NYC Parks Syringe Litter Data Collection initiative.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal patterns in syringe collection counts to identify seasonal or weekly trends
• Compare collection volumes from ground pickups versus kiosk disposals to assess program effectiveness
• Model syringe litter density by park location using collection date and source organization data

Strengths

• Data is contributed by multiple organizations, including NYC Parks and established non-profits
• Covers a specific and documented public health issue in a major urban area
• Available in multiple machine-readable formats including CSV and JSON

Limitations

• Unknown total record count and column structure limits preliminary analysis
• Data dictionary is hosted externally on Google Sheets, requiring an extra step for full understanding
• Potential for geographic bias as coverage is limited to NYC parks

Provenance

Source

City of New York

Collection Method

Collection by NYC Parks staff and partner non-profit organizations (Washington Heights Corner Project, New York Harm Reduction Educators).

Freshness

Last updated March 22, 2026.

Geography

New York City parks, United States.