Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are making a new joint push to crack down on businesses illegally selling weed in the Big Apple, the pair announced Tuesday afternoon.
The NYPD has filed complaints in Manhattan Supreme Court against the operators of four East Village storefronts they say they observed selling marijuana without a license, in several cases to underaged individuals, the mayor said. At the same time, Bragg said his office sent a letter to over 400 smoke shops throughout Manhattan his office believes to be selling unlicensed pot, warning them they could be evicted if they don’t halt the illicit sales.
So far, only two licensed weed dispensaries have opened their doors since the substance was first legalized in New York almost two years ago — in March 2021 — under the tenure of ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo. The “Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act” was intended to right the wrongs of the “War on Drugs” by distributing licenses to sell the product first to the communities that were most impacted by mass incarceration.
In the two years that it’s taken the state to launch the legal market, however, dozens of unlicensed storefronts and trucks have cropped up, selling untaxed and unregulated cannabis across the five boroughs.
Adams and Bragg, during a news conference on the Upper West Side Tuesday, said it’s necessary to crack down on the unlicensed sellers because they could be undermining the legal market, in which the state has taken pains to prioritize those who were “justice-impacted,” robbing the state of much-needed tax revenue and posing a danger to those consuming unregulated products.
“You can’t just open a shop and sell marijuana, there are rules and we must abide by those rules in a very real way,” the mayor said. “Legalizing cannabis was a major step forward. But we’re not going to sit back and watch that progression go up in smoke because people want to emerge in an illegal market, especially when so many of them are selling unlawful and unlicensed products that could seriously harm consumers.”
“New Yorkers have had enough, they’ve sent a loud and clear message that these illegal smoke shops are on notice and we’re giving that notice today,” he added. “They will be evicted, in many cases those supplies that they’re selling illegally, if it’s over the legal amount, they’re going to be confiscated.”
The city is seeking to shut down the four unlicensed East Village shops cops in plain clothes say they saw sell weed to undercover auxiliary police officers, who were below the age of 21, under its Nuisance Abatement Law. The four businesses include Runtz Tobacco, at 14 1st. Ave.; Broadway, at 736 Broadway; Saint Marks Convenience & Smoke Shop, at 103 Saint Marks Pl.; and Sogie Mart Rolls & Puff, at 24 Avenue A.
City Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix said they’re hoping the lawsuits will push the businesses to stop selling unlicensed marijuana; but will seek a court order to close the shops if they still refuse to comply.
“No businesses should choose which laws to follow,” Hinds-Radix said. “The city’s message to any business that thinks it can harm our communities and turn a blind eye to the law is: we’ll see you in court.”
Bragg said the illegal pot businesses that have proliferated around Manhattan are “robbing” the communities most impacted by the War on Drugs.
“Those who flout the cannabis tax laws and regulations are robbing the very communities that suffered from marijuana criminalization for decades, communities that are finally on the cusp of benefiting from a just and equitable system,” Bragg said. “We cannot allow that. I will not allow that.”
In his missive, Bragg said he notified the over 400 smoke shops it was sent to, that his office is prepared to use its civil powers under “Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law” to force their property owners to commence eviction proceedings against them. That includes the unlicensed sale of pot, untaxed cigarettes and other “adulterated products.”
If landlords don’t evict the illegal smoke shops within five days of receiving written notice from Bragg’s office, the DA will take over the proceedings himself, according to a release.
But when asked by a reporter if his office was prepared to bring over 400 eviction proceedings against the illicit businesses, Bragg said his office will likely focus its efforts on those it determines are doing the most harm.
“We will do what we do in other matters,” Bragg said. “We’ll look at the data, we’ll look at the evidence, we’ll look at where things are most acute. Those are the kind of issues and considerations we’ll look at to do priorities.”
