The Bronx gets its first hospital-based rape crisis program. What the Council has heard about sexual violence services this fall

NYC Health + Hospitals has opened the Bronx's first hospital-based rape crisis program, at its North Central Bronx campus, the Bronx Times reported Thursday. Survivors get free, confidential counseling, someone to accompany them to medical and forensic exams in the emergency room, and help with the medical, legal and court systems. Volunteer advocates work at both North Central Bronx and Jacobi.

Why it matters to residents: the Bronx had the highest rate of rapes and sex crimes of any borough when adjusted for population, according to a 2025 data brief from the city's office on gender-based violence cited by the Bronx Times. Until now the borough had two rape crisis programs, while Manhattan has six hospital-based ones, the paper reported. It is the public hospital system's second such program, after Bellevue.

What officials have said

The hospital's chief executive, Christopher Mastromano, said survivors deserve "compassionate, confidential support at every step." Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said, "The Bronx deserves its fair share of resources, and we're getting them now," the Bronx Times reported. The program has eight volunteer advocates now and plans 40-hour trainings in January, with room for up to 60 a year. The paper also reported that rape crisis centers across New York have faced significant cuts to federal funding distributed through the state Office of Victim Services.

What our records add

The city's gender-based violence office moved under Community Safety. The Council's Committee on Women and Gender Equity, chaired by Amanda C. Farías, held a Sept. 30 oversight hearing on the restructuring of the Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence under the new Office of Community Safety. Testifying for the administration, Office of Community Safety Commissioner Ayesha Delany-Brumsey said the gender-based violence office's budget rose $15.7 million this fiscal year, its largest increase since 2018 (19:57).

A hotline reporting bill is waiting. At that hearing, the committee heard Farías' Int. 1079, which would require reporting on a hotline for survivors of gender-based violence. It was laid over.

The NYPD said rape counts changed with the law. At a Sept. 16 Public Safety hearing on crime statistics, an NYPD official told members that the legal definition of rape had expanded, so some cases once charged as a criminal sexual act are now charged as rape, and that the two categories should be read together.

The Speaker pressed on rising rapes last week. At the Council's Oct. 30 hearing on the Office of Community Safety, Speaker Julie Menin asked how the office's $271 million budget was being used against rising felony assaults, rapes and hate crimes, City & State reported. We covered that hearing Saturday.

What's next

Volunteer advocate training begins in January. Int. 1079 needs a committee vote before reaching the full Council, which next meets Nov. 12.