NYC Condoms campaign is on a roll in Chelsea and beyond

By Lawrence Lerner

When the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene unveiled its NYC Condoms initiative back on Valentine’s Day, it hoped to make it all the way to second base. Four months into the campaign, it appears the department has hit a home run.

As of June 1, more than 14 million of the subway-themed condoms have gotten into the hands of New Yorkers, exceeding even the greatest hopes and expectations of department officials and the Bloomberg administration.

The milestone follows on the heels of a steady distribution surge that began with the condom’s February debut, when the Health Department gave out nearly 4 million of them, causing Mayor Bloomberg’s office to label the effort a “sensation.” That was followed by 3.9 million given out in March—more than twice the monthly distribution before the new packages debuted. By early May, orders topped 11 million.

“We’re getting New York City covered,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden. “This has been a huge success. Most [of the condoms] have gone to neighborhoods most affected by HIV and teen pregnancy.”

That includes Chelsea.

While one in every three NYC Condoms went to organizations in Central Brooklyn, Central/East Harlem and the South Bronx, where the Health Department focuses outreach efforts, an additional 800,000 condoms have been distributed in Chelsea and Clinton, many of them at local businesses partnering with the city on the initiative.

“Customers come in all the time asking for NYC Condoms,” said Megan Giometti, manager of Chelsea’s Black Door bar, which started distributing them two months ago, shortly after the campaign started. Every week or so, the bar receives a large package containing approximately 350 condoms. “They’re great for business. People really want them and know we have them,” she said.

Any New York City establishment—be it a health club, coffee house, bar, barbershop or clothing store—can become a partner in the campaign by calling 311 or visiting www.nyccondom.org. The Health Department will deliver free NYC Condoms as needed to meet demand. In fact, the department placed an initial order for 26 million condoms from Lifestyles, the company that manufactures them, and will order more if need be, according to Frieden.

A few Chelsea businesses interviewed for this story verified that the demand has been high.

“I don’t know how many condoms we get, but we go through them pretty quickly,” said Sid Reitzfeld, co-owner of Chelsea’s Dusk Lounge, which displays them in a box against a wall, by a set of couches. “People don’t ask us directly about them, but we hear conversations about them. People seem to know about the program and think it’s cool.”

New York City’s condom initiative dates back to 1971, when the Health Department started distributing them through its clinics. The program expanded during the 1980s to include community-based service organizations and increased more than seven-fold in June 2005, when the Department launched an Internet-based bulk ordering system.

This February, New York became the first city in the country to have its own signature municipal condoms, hoping the buzz would help distribution take off yet again. Last year, the city gave out 18 million free condoms, a mark it is rapidly closing in on this year, only four months into the new initiative.

The re-branding, supported by an onslaught of print and broadcast and advertising, plus wider distribution through not only community organizations but businesses throughout the city, have helped contribute to the campaign’s success. All in all, more than 1,600 organizations and businesses are participating, and that number is bound to increase.

The free condom initiative is one important way the city is attempting to reduce rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies. Of New York’s 8.2 million residents, more than 100,000 have HIV or AIDS, with many new diagnoses each year. In 2005, 1,400 city inhabitants died of AIDS, the third-leading killer for residents under 65, behind cancer and heart disease.

That didn’t stop leaders of the Catholic Church from issuing a strongly worded statement against the plan back in mid-February, however, when Edward Cardinal Egan and Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio called it an immoral “anything goes” policy that degrades society.

“Our political leaders fail to protect the moral tone of our community when they encourage inappropriate sexual activity by blanketing our neighborhoods with condoms,” they said.

The Bloomberg administration defended the $1.5 million condom program, spearheaded by Frieden. In February, administration spokesperson Stu Loeser said, “With all due respect to Cardinal Egan and Bishop DiMarzio, we feel differently. We believe we’re saving lives, and it’s important to do that.”