Prevention
By Frankie Edozien
NEW YORK -- When it was reported over a year ago, that New York City health officials were working on a plan to brand their own condom, Big Apple residents snickered. Jokes could be heard from one end of the city to the other. The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden, who had pushed through a smoking ban in public restaurants before it became di-riguer around the world, just soldiered on. His boss, Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood by him and the deal was made. Even as the secret was out, health officials revealed no details on their plan until almost two months ago when the official ‘NYC Condom’ was unveiled on Valentine’s Day. It was no joke. City officials, celebrities -- including designer and amfAR president Kenneth Cole -- and AIDS service workers showed off the product, with workers giving them away at subways, street corners, bars and just about everywhere that day. Cole hosted the news conference announcing the condoms at his Rockefeller Center store. Each standard-size condom, made by LifeStyles, is packaged in a wrapper stamped with the letters "NYC CONDOM" in the same font and bright colors used on city subway maps and signs. Some began calling them the subway rubbers. There were the first of its kind for any municipality. The distinct packaging helps officials keep track of the product’s effectiveness as well as encourages its use. However, grumbling came from the city’s catholic leaders as the packets were handed out all over town. Edward Cardinal Egan, head of the Archdiocese of New York, and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, released a joint statement lashing out at City Hall leaders and denouncing the program as "tragic and misguided." Egan and DiMarzio, who together serve more than 4 million Catholics, added that the only way to protect against sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS is through abstinence before marriage and fidelity among married couples. “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. But Bloomberg shrugged off their criticism and defended the initiative, saying it was not an issue of faith but a "real world" solution to a health crisis. More than 100,000 of New York's 8.2 million residents have HIV or AIDS, and officials estimate some 20,000 don’t know their status. The Big Apple remains the epicenter of the pandemic with blacks and women increasingly bearing the brunt of new infections. The city began giving away condoms in limited quantities back in 1971. But the recent ramped up efforts have seen the numbers go from 4 million in 2003 to 18 million in 2006. That record could be surpassed by years end. In the first month of NYC Condom’s distribution, 5 million were given away to residents and visitors. The total cost is still unclear but officials say it’s a drop in the bucket for a city with a $57 billion budget. Few cities could match New York’s public health budgets and so far none has tried to brand their own condoms. Frieden "The NYC Condom is a sensation," a thrilled Frieden said.
“Hundreds of community organizations are signing up to give out free condoms, many for the first time. I commend them for doing their part to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies,” the commissioner said.
Indeed it seems as if everywhere one goes in the Big Apple, the prophylactics are available. Officials saw a torrent of hits to the www.nyccondom.org website, they set up for distribution (15,000 hits the first week and 35,000 by the end of the month) and sent new condoms to a myriad of establishments. From AIDS advocacy groups to hair salons, clothing stores, nightclubs, coffeehouses and more. Anyone who wants can simply order them. But officials have been proactive too, asking some establishments like Monster Sushi, a popular eatery with multiple branches, to pick them up. Managers said they constantly refill the baskets at the door. Close to a million condoms were distributed that way. A sentiment echoed at other hitherto non-tradition condom distributors. “Our customers keep asking for more,” said Peace St. Clair, a barber at the Levels Hair Salon of Harlem. At the Pieces Bar, a gay watering hole in Greenwich Village, manager Brandon Griewank said the product’s vivid packaging sells itself. “They're going by the handful. They capture the style and wit of New York." Frankie Edozien is a reporter for the New York Post.