District Attorney Eyes Two Dozen-Plus Downtown Smoke Shops for Possible Unlawful Cannabis Sales
On the heels of the February 7 announcement by Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that they intended to combat the proliferation of illegal, unlicensed cannabis dispensaries across the borough of Manhattan, the prosecutor’s office has identified 32 such emporia in Lower Manhattan at which it will look for “evidence of unauthorized cannabis sales and other illegal activity” and seek eviction of the businesses.
Under New York’s Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, prosecutors can notify landlords whose commercial tenants are engaged in “illegal trade or business,” and demand that the building owners commence proceedings to dispossess the shops. If a landlord does not make an application to evict within five days of the written notice (or if, after making the application, the landlord does not “in good faith diligently prosecute it”), the District Attorney’s office is legally authorized to bring its own proceeding eviction against the tenant as though it were the landlord.
On the day of the Mayor and Mr. Bragg’s announcement, the District Attorney’s office mailed notifications to 400 such stores in Manhattan. Lower Manhattan is home to more than two dozen of these retailers, according to a list provided by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, where a spokesman emphasized that “it is important to note that not every store on this list will face eviction. We are continuing to gather evidence, and it’s possible that many aren’t engaging in any illegal activity.”
At the January 24 meeting of Community Board 1 (CB1), representatives of two elected officials gave voice to the widespread concerns about local cannabis shops. Max Deutsch, the community liaison for City Council member Christopher Marte, said, “the Council number wrote a letter that is being signed by the full Manhattan delegation. So there will be eight other Council members signing on, asking the Office of Cannabis Management for increased enforcement against the illegal smoke shops popping up. As I’m sure many of you know, these are coming up everywhere ,and we haven’t been seen a lot of the enforcement resources allocated here. So we’re asking for more in Manhattan and then specifically also in our district.”
Emily Lang, representing State Senator Brian Kavanagh, added, “I’ve been working with CB1, as well as other Community Boards across the City, on the issue of illegal cannabis dispensaries. We’ve also worked with our other Community Boards on a couple of the legal licenses that are coming through, which require community board input. And once a license eventually makes its way to CB1, I’m happy to work with the board and communicate with the Office of Cannabis Management on any issues that come up with that.”
Manhattan is currently home to just three legally authorized cannabis dispensaries, none of which are located within the confines of CB1, a collection of neighborhoods encompassing 1.5 square miles, bounded roughly by Canal, Baxter, and Pearl Streets, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Nonetheless, smoke shops have proliferated throughout Lower Manhattan in recent months. In more than a dozen stores at which the Broadsheet inquired, counter personnel acknowledged freely that they were selling cannabis.
The wave of these openings is widely believed to be an effort by sellers to position themselves either to apply for legal licenses as the State slowly rolls them out, or else to benefit from what is anticipated by some to be a newly relaxed enforcement policy, in which even illegal vendors can prosper.
Given the windfall that the legal cannabis industry is expected to provide for vendors, at least some of the new stores may view such violations as a minor nuisance and cost of doing business. Nominally, such shops fall under the jurisdiction of the City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). But in practical terms, smoke shops selling cannabis have little to fear from City inspectors. Although DCWP officers can cite establishments for violations, they have no legal authority to close offending stores. The process for doing so is lengthy and cumbersome, involving multiple hearings and appeals, often taking several years. (This is a marked contrast to businesses found to be selling or serving alcohol without a license, which are usually raided and closed within days of being discovered.) The new eviction-focused approach announced by Mayor Adams and District Attorney Bragg may represent a workaround to this legal roadblock.
“Smoke shops that illegally sell cannabis products are popping up in neighborhoods across Manhattan, compromising the integrity of the new cannabis licensing process and undercutting the immensely important equity goals of the new cannabis laws,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “As this new legal industry emerges, we must ensure that businesses that do the right thing are in a position to succeed.”
Below is the list of Lower Manhattan smoke shops designated for possible enforcement (source: Manhattan District Attorney’s office):
NYC Convenience
100 Maiden Lane
FiDi Smoke Shop
101 Greenwich St
Lafayette Convenience
107 Lafayette Street
Big City Smoke Shop
110 Church St
Choithrams
111A Nassau St
NYC Smoke Shop & Vape Shop
12 John St
Barclay Rex Pipe Shop
126 Pearl St
New Jubilee News
135 William St
Wonder World
139 Fulton St
Ozone Convenience
145 Nassau Street
Stone Smoke Shop
15 Stone St
Lucky One Stop
160 Church St
Jubilee Vape & Smoke
165 Church St
Smoke Shop
20 Vesey St
Millennium Smoke Shop
24 Maiden Lane
Convenience Shop
240 Canal Street
My Convenience
29 John St
Quick Pick
35 John St
Sant News
37 Murray St
Canal Smoke Beer Gift & Convenience
383 Canal St
NYC Convince
40 Exchange Pl
Puffmen
40 Fulton St
NYC Convenience
40 Water St
Fulton Smoke Shop
50 Fulton St
Munchies 65 Corporation
65 Nassau Street
Double Smoke Shop
76 Fulton St
Water Convince & Smoke Shop
79 Pine St
Discount Smoke Shop
84 Nassau St
Nassau Street Convenience & Smoke Shop
88 Nassau St
BK Smoke & Vape Shop
90 William St
Yaya Smoke Shop
90 Worth St
Cannabis Dispensary/Flower Shop
97 Nassau St