Buffalo, New York has left most of its opioid settlement funds untouched whilst more than 500 residents have died from overdoses. The city spent less than a third of nearly $6 million in Buffalo overdose crisis funding over three years, sparking outrage amongst frontline workers who say they could have saved lives.

Moreover, city officials admit they’re ill-equipped to handle what has become a devastating public health emergency.

Settlement Money Sits Idle Whilst Communities Suffer

Between 2023 and 2025, Buffalo received $5.9 million from New York State’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports. The state secured these funds through litigation against pharmaceutical companies whose aggressive marketing of opioids fuelled the nationwide epidemic. However, city officials spent only $1.75 million, according to an investigation by Investigative Post.

Roughly $500,000 of that expenditure went toward purchases with questionable connections to overdose prevention. For instance, the list included police and fire vehicles, lawnmowers for neighbourhood block clubs, and sponsorship of a community event. Additionally, officials awarded another half million dollars to a nonprofit organisation that has yet to launch its promised treatment programme.

“That just screams of misappropriation to me,” said Chris Harzynski, who founded Creative Restorations, an addiction outreach programme, in June 2023. Notably, he started the organisation after losing two friends to overdoses within 24 hours. “I don’t think this is what this was designed for.”

Frontline Workers Miss Out On Buffalo Overdose Crisis Funding

Rashone Scott-Williams has been distributing naloxone from her Jeep Renegade since 2018 through her organisation, Western New York Mobile Ops. Naloxone is the overdose-reversal medication that can save lives within minutes. She delivers supplies to delis, liquor stores, and auto shops around Buffalo, particularly in the Riverside neighbourhood.

Nevertheless, the supplies typically vanish within two or three days, testament to the desperate need in these communities.

Scott-Williams had no idea millions in opioid settlement funds Buffalo received were available. “My SUV is going to break down,” she said. “We have received zero dollars.”

Similarly, both Scott-Williams and Harzynski were unaware the city had issued a request for proposals in early 2024. In fact, the opportunity wasn’t adequately publicised to smaller community organisations best positioned to make an immediate impact.

Disproportionate Impact On Black And Latino Communities

The overdose crisis has hit Buffalo’s minority communities particularly hard. Indeed, more than half the county’s overdose deaths occur within city limits. Consequently, county health officials flagged the Broadway-Fillmore and Kensington-Bailey neighbourhoods as areas of “high concern.”

Black and Hispanic residents are dying at significantly higher rates than white residents, according to data from Erie County’s health department. As of late 2025, Hispanics face the highest rates of opioid-related fatalities in the county.

Between 2023 and 2025, at least 560 people died from overdoses in Buffalo. Furthermore, that figure dwarfs the 101 homicides committed during the same period. Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise whilst opioid settlement funds Buffalo controls remain unspent.

City Officials Make Questionable Spending Decisions With Opioid Settlement Funds

Records reveal troubling patterns in how officials allocated settlement money. For example, the Buffalo Police Department spent $243,817 on mental health-related expenses, including $38,000 for a mobile wellness app. The app offers officers weight-loss challenges and on-demand content. Additionally, the department also purchased a 2025 Ford Explorer for $39,345 using opioid funds. However, officials couldn’t explain how the vehicle related to overdose prevention.

Meanwhile, the fire department spent more than $430,000 on vehicles. They spent additional thousands on ID card printers, air filtration systems, and industrial washing machines for contaminated gear.

The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency made perhaps the most eyebrow-raising decision. Specifically, the agency spent $11,111 at Lowe’s buying lawnmowers for block clubs. The rationale? Keeping neighbourhoods tidy would supposedly deter “the petty crime of opioid addiction,” according to Geraldine Ford, director of the city’s Division of Urban Affairs.

City Officials Acknowledge Their Shortcomings

Ford has overseen the opioid settlement funds Buffalo received since 2023. She defended her office whilst acknowledging limitations. “We are the City of Buffalo. We clean streets. We pick up trash,” she said. Importantly, the city lacks the social services and health departments that counties maintain.

“Now that we know more, could we have spent it better? Maybe. But again, we collect trash.”

Interestingly, city officials decided to allocate opioid money to police and fire departments in July 2023. That decision came six months before they issued the request for proposals to community organisations in January 2024. Clearly, records show this timeline prioritised institutional spending over community-based solutions.

Buffalo Overdose Crisis Funding Reflects Larger Systemic Problems

Buffalo’s struggles reflect broader issues with opioid settlement fund distribution across New York State. Nearly half a billion dollars has flowed through state agencies over four years. Nevertheless, experts worry the money isn’t reaching the communities that need it most.

Tracie Gardner joined the state’s Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board in 2024. She said funding “is not going to where the harm is happening.” Furthermore, Gardner noted that $200 million in settlement money remains unspent statewide. Another $35 million in accrued interest sits without any formal spending plan.

“We’re in the fifth year of this money at the state level. Money from 2023, 2024 is just getting out the door,” Gardner said. “Either the money is sitting there and not being utilised where there is clear urgency or the money is not going to where it is best utilised.”

The advisory board can only make recommendations. Unfortunately, Gardner says legislators have largely ignored that guidance.

What Community Organisations Could Have Done With Opioid Settlement Funds Buffalo

Harzynski’s Creative Restorations once conducted outreach five days per week in Buffalo’s hardest-hit neighbourhoods. However, lack of funding reduced that to just one day weekly.

“The lack of funding makes it harder for small agencies to make their mission a reality,” he said.

Similarly, Scott-Williams expressed frustration that settlement money never reached the families and communities most affected by the crisis. “The funding never went to the parents. It never went to the people who died. It didn’t help pay for funeral costs,” she said.

“And that’s a disservice to the people’s lives that were lost. It’s a disservice to their memory.”

More than $4 million in opioid settlement funds Buffalo controls still remains unspent. As a result, advocates hope incoming city leadership might chart a different course. They want to see priorities shift toward evidence-based treatment, harm reduction strategies, and support for community organisations already doing the work.

For now, though, the money sits idle whilst the death toll continues to climb.

Source: investigativepost