With photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Law enforcement continues to crack down on unlicensed cannabis shops throughout NYC.
The most recent victims in the East Village include Smoke House at 44 Avenue A at Third Street. (Tough few weeks for them — they were also burglarized on July 29.)
The Villager Smoke Shop at 445 E. Ninth St. at Avenue A was also busted (next two photos via Steven)...
And there have been others, as local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera noted in an X post this past Thursday...
Still, despite the efforts of local law enforcement (under the New York City Sheriff's Joint Compliance Task Force), the fines, the restraining orders, etc., some places find a way to return.Unlicensed dispensaries do not comply with regulations meant to protect health + life, and some have been found to sell to minors and host other illegal activity. More locations in our community have been closed, and we encourage you to continue reporting locations to our office. pic.twitter.com/he5tF0aBCQ
— NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera (@CMCarlinaRivera) August 8, 2024
For instance, the Grab & Go Convenience at 23 Avenue B, which was shut down in May, returned as Camino.
Apparently they won their court case, bringing them back from the dead. This is the first time that we've seen a smoke shop come back from a sealed, multiagency court order. 
So: Open smoke shop. Bust. Reopen. Bust again. And again. Court-order seal. Slap a new business name on the space and reopen. Rinse. Repeat.
9 comments:
Only in NYc - thanks for the report Ms. Joy!
I thought the war on drugs — or at least weed— was over? NYS created this black market by only granting a few arbitrary licenses to operators in large, prime retail spaces selling New York grown, skunk weed at $65 for a few grams that most POC can’t afford. Let’s stop this war on the $15-20 weed seller — its a ridiculous waste of police resources
Ha! Sure thing, let the tax cheats keep on cheating.
$15-20? You're not serious! Every illegal shop's sandwich board I have ever seen advertised $10 for one pre roll!
The smoke shop getting closed at 445 East 9th Street hopefully resulted in some sort of fines for the landlord Icon Realty. Icon is guilty of more illegal activity than any of these smoke shops!
I second that! Icon is one of worst. Right up there with Jared Kushner.
Let's see what happens. I live on the block and the notice of order of closure has been removed from the gate
Call it in.
I feel like the novel idea of " don't smoke weed " went by the wayside.
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