New York City Treats Tobacco

New York University’s New York City Treats Tobacco (NYCTT) program was funded by the New York State Department of Health’s Bureau of Tobacco Control and was located at the School of Global Public Health. NYC Treats Tobacco (NYCTT) is no longer operating as of April 30, 2026.

Over the past grant cycle, our collaborative approach to developing clinical tobacco dependence treatment (TDT) policies has directly supported at least 3.6 million New Yorkers on their smoke-free journey

Our Impact: By The Numbers

NYCTT has focused on sustainable, organizational-level change to ensure tobacco dependence treatment (TDT) remains a priority at New York City’s health systems.

Engagement: Between the past two grant cycles, we partnered with 81 medical and behavioral healthcare organizations (HCOs) across all five borough
Reach: Data from 60% of these partners shows that our policy implementation work supports at least 3.6 million New Yorkers
Provider Education: We conducted 57 provider and staff TDT trainings on best practices since 2022.

By embedding TDT enhancements at the organizational level, we have fundamentally shifted the care environment for patients seeking to change their commercial tobacco use.

Innovative Funding & Resource Distribution

We are proud of the tangible resources we provided to help HCOs overcome barriers to care.

The Mini-Grant Program

NYCTT was the first HSTFNY grantee to integrate mini-grant funding in our practice facilitation approach. Between late 2022 and 2026, NYCTT distributed $192,569 in mini-grant funding to enhance TDT implementation. Our HCO partners used these funds creatively and effectively to:

Hire EHR consultants to embed decision-support tools into digital workflows
Provide OMNY/MetroCards to remove transportation barriers for patients attending group tobacco treatment counseling
Hire hourly translators to bridge language gaps, such as treating Russian-speaking patients at a clinic with no Russian-speaking staff.
Sponsor providers and staff to attend Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) trainings…and more!

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) Initiative

Since we began offering free NRT to HCOs who implement TDT policies with us in mid-2023:

66% of our partner HCOs utilized the free NRT incentive (n = 50)
45% of those HCOs requested NRT supplies more than once to support their patient populations

Featured in the News: NYC Treats Tobacco

NYC Treats Tobacco Director Dr. Donna Shelley made an appearance on NBC Nightly News to discuss the potential health effects of Zyn and other tobacco-free nicotine patches.

Click here to see more!

Earned Media and News

Op-ed: Hochul’s nicotine tax proposal is not just about revenue, it’s about saving young people

New York Amsterdam News
May 7, 2026

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Op-ed: Hochul’s call to boost taxes on nicotine products is good for our children

Crain’s New York Business
April 21, 2026

Read More

Sustaining the Work: Remaining and Future Resources

New York State Quitline provides free, evidence-based coaching and NRT (while supplies last). Call 1-866-NY-QUITS or visit nysmokefree.com.

NYC Tobacco Comprehensive Training & Technical Assistance Center (NYC TCTTAC) continues to offer free training and technical assistance to behavioral health programs. Visit nyctcttac.org

For continued support, you can check out the HSFTNY's website for new grantees.

This landing page will remain active indefinitely as a permanent reference hub for our partners and the public health community. Content on this site was last updated in May 2026 and reflects the final outcomes of the NYC Treats Tobacco initiative

New York City Treats Tobacco