{{Short description|American harm reduction activist}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox person | occupation = {{hlist|Nonprofit executive|Harm reduction advocate}} | organization = Executive Director of OnPoint NYC (2020-) | awards = Time 100 2023 }} '''Sam Rivera''' is an American activist and nonprofit executive of Afro-Taino descent. He became known for serving as the Executive Director of harm reduction-focused nonprofit OnPoint NYC in 2020, and led its creation of the first two safe injection sites in the United States in NYC in November 2021. For his work leading OnPoint, he was named to the Time 100 in 2023.
== Biography == Rivera was convicted of a drug and gun charge in his early 20s. During his time in prison, he noticed a broken window in a room where several ill men were and reported it. He was immediately whisked to a quarantine room and made to sign a waiver: those men had HIV/AIDS. Ultimately, he wound up volunteering to read to them and help them write letters to their family.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Q-and-A with Sam Rivera, executive director of OnPoint NYC |url=https://www.lac.org/news/q-a-with-sam-rivera-executive-director-of-onpoint-nyc |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=www.lac.org}}</ref> He was freed from prison in 1990, and two years later went to work for the Fortune Society, a prison re-entry nonprofit, as an advocate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Director of harm reduction centers wants to use love, not aggression, to address adversaries |url=https://fortunesociety.org/media_center/director-of-harm-reduction-centers-wants-to-use-love-not-aggression-to-address-adversaries/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=The Fortune Society |language=en}}</ref>
After rising to the role of Associate Vice President for Housing at the Fortune Society, he became the Executive Director of two organizations then in the middle of merging: the Washington Heights Corner Project and the New York Harm Reduction Educators.<ref>{{Cite web |last=New York Harm Reduction Educators |title=Please join us in welcoming Sam Rivera |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156962723651906&id=322163281905&set=a.391711426905 |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=www.facebook.com}}</ref> After merging, the two became known as OnPoint NYC and Rivera became the new organization's Executive Director.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Soto |first=Emerson |date=2019-05-31 |title=NYHRE: Who We Are |url=https://onpointnyc.org/nyhre-who-we-are/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=OnPoint NYC |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2021, Bill de Blasio authorized the opening of the first two Supervised injection sites in the United States by OnPoint under Rivera's leadership.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-30 |title=NYC Opens First Supervised Injection Sites In US To Fight Opioid Overdoses |url=https://gothamist.com/news/harlem-and-washington-heights-open-first-supervised-injection-sites-us |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=Gothamist |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Paun |first=Carmen |last2=Payne |first2=Daniel |last3=Schumaker |first3=Erin |date=2024-04-19 |title=The case for supervised drug use |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/future-pulse/2024/04/19/the-case-for-supervised-drug-use-00153261 |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref>During just the first few months of the sites being open under Rivera's leadership, these sites reversed over 100 overdoses.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Oladipo |first=Gloria |date=2022-01-25 |title=‘It’s saved many lives’: first US overdose prevention centers give safe spaces to people in crisis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/25/overdose-prevention-centers-new-york-saving-lives |access-date=2026-05-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> By late 2025, that number had reached over 1900.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Facher |first=Lev |date=2025-12-18 |title=Facing federal hostility, supervised consumption site points to 1,900 overdose reversals |url=https://www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/on-point-nyc-drug-consumption-site-trump-defiance/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=STAT |language=en-US}}</ref> Rivera's vision also focused on holistic care at these sites, including laundry, mental health, acupuncture, showers, and drug testing.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-13 |title=A Safe Space for Users: A Conversation With Sam Rivera |url=https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/sam-rivera-interview/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=Vital City |language=en}}</ref>
The center has faced political trouble, though: though all three Mayors during OnPoint's sites have supported them (de Blasio, Eric Adams<ref>{{Cite news |last=Knibbs |first=Kate |title=Hope on the Front Lines of the Drug Overdose Crisis |url=https://www.wired.com/story/onpoint-harm-reduction-center-drug-use/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> and Zohran Mamdani<ref>{{Cite web |last=Soto |first=Emerson |date=2026-03-19 |title=Partnering to Keep New Yorkers Safe: Mayor Mamdani Visits OnPoint NYC |url=https://onpointnyc.org/mayor-mamdani-visits-onpoint-nyc/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=OnPoint NYC |language=en-US}}</ref>), in 2025 Nicole Malliotakis, a congresswoman from Staten Island, asked the Department of Justice to shut them down. Rivera, however, reaffirmed his commitment to these supervised injection sites.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-14 |title=President Trump asked to shut down safe injection sites operating in New York City |url=https://abc7ny.com/post/president-trump-asked-shut-down-overdose-prevention-centers-have-operated-3-years-nyc/15907033/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=ABC7 New York |language=en}}</ref>
He was named to the Time 100 in 2023: his profile in Time 100 was written by Beth Macy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macy |first=Beth |title=100 Most Influential People 2023: Sam Rivera |url=https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6270018/sam-rivera/ |access-date=11 May 2026 |website=Time}}</ref> He also won the David Prize for individuals with the best ideas to create a better NYC in 2023<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-05 |title=Sam Rivera |url=https://thedavidprize.org/winner-stories/sam-rivera/ |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=The David Prize |language=en}}</ref>, and received the Legal Action Center's Edward J. Davis Community Service Award that same year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LAC Celebrates Historic Milestone and Three Incredible Honorees at Its 50th Anniversary Arthur Liman Public Interest Awards Benefit |url=https://www.lac.org/news/lac-celebrates-historic-milestone-and-three-incredible-honorees-at-its-50th-anniversary-arthur-liman-public-interest-awards-benefit |access-date=2026-05-11 |website=www.lac.org}}</ref>
== Personal Life == He is of Afro-Taino descent, and cited his uncle, a Puerto Rican activist, as one of his biggest inspirations.<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Sam}} Category:Living people