For Immediate Release
November 2, 2023
Contact: Isaac Andino
646-907-2658
Iandino@council.nyc.gov
City Council Member Keith Powers Introduces New Legislation Making It Easier, Quicker to Close Down Illegal Cannabis Shops
The New Legislation Amends the City’s Long-Standing Nuisance Abatement Law to Add Illegal Cannabis Shops as Activity That Can Be Quickly Shut Down
Today, City Council Member Keith Powers introduced new legislation that amends the city’s Nuisance Abatement Law (NAL) to make it easier and quicker to shut down the illegal cannabis shops that have sprouted throughout the city. The New York City Sheriff’s Office estimates that there are currently about 1,500 illegal shops operating in the city, compared to 11 legal shops across the city and only 26 in the entire state. These illegal shops not only undermine the legal market, but pose a public health and safety threat. Numerous instances of selling to minors, tainted products, and increases in crime have been documented.
“We must take action to shut down the hundreds of illegal cannabis shops that are sprouting like weeds across our city,” said City Council Majority Leader Keith Powers. “The legislation introduced today will provide the City with an additional tool to close down illegal shops in an efficient and methodical manner, as opposed to the current game of whack-a-mole. I look forward to working with my colleagues at the City Council to quickly pass this important legislation.”
“Thank you to Councilmembers Powers, Bottcher, Brewer, and Feliz for taking the lead on this important amendment to the Nuisance Abatement Law that will make it easier for law enforcement to close illegal cannabis stores in New York City,” said Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance. “This is an important step to keeping neighborhoods throughout the city safer and allow the legitimate cannabis industry to thrive.”
NAL was originally enacted in the 1970’s as a way to crack down on obscenity and prostitution around Times Square. The law grants the city the power to close commercial properties for certain illegal activities. Since its creation the NAL has been expanded to include additional illegal activities like unlicensed alcohol sales (including to minors), illegal drug sales, and certain violations of the building code. The legislation introduced today will add illegal cannabis shops as one of the illegal activities subject to NAL closures.
Currently, illegal cannabis shops are subject to up to $20,000 a day in fines, but this has failed to stop their proliferation. In a recent oversight hearing, the head of the Office of Cannabis Management stated that for many large scale operations, especially those linked to organized crime, the fines are simply “the cost of doing business.” Amending the NAL to allow for expedited closures of the shops will provide authorities with an additional tool to halt their spread.
“A legal, regulated cannabis market is critical for public safety and economic growth,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Thank you to the Council Members who are sponsoring this new legislation that will allow for the expedited closure of illegal shops. The Manhattan D.A.’s Office will continue using every tool at our disposal to proactively address unlicensed cannabis shops in the borough.”
“New York State’s roll-out of the Marihuana Regulation & Taxation Act has been a total embarrassment. It’s hard to fathom how it’s possible that over 8,000 unlicensed shops continue to operate with impunity. These illicit sellers undermine the licensed recreational cannabis market, pay no taxes, and deprive BIPOC communities of the community reinvestment funds generated from the tax on legal sales. The products sold in unlawful stores are unregulated, posing health risks to consumers. Meanwhile, more and more teens are purchasing cannabis products from unlicensed stores, often before and after school. I want to thank Council Member Keith Powers for his partnership and I look forward to working with the rest of the Council to advance this important legislation,” said City Council Member Erik Bottcher.
“The basic tenet of government is to make people feel safe; that is difficult to do with the proliferation of illegal weed shops in our city’s neighborhoods. That is why I am proud to co-sponsor Intro 1243 to amend the nuisance abatement law to include illegal pot shops,“ said Council Member Lynn Schulman, Chair of the Health Committee. “This legislation goes hand-in-hand with my bill which creates steep fines for landlords who knowingly rent to an illegal weed shop. My bill has already had an impact and with this newly introduced legislation, I am confident we will get rid of these community atrocities once and for all.”
“Illegal cannabis stores gained traction during the six-month delay between then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signing the MRTA into law and Governor Kathy Hochul, to her credit, establishing OCM and the Cannabis Control Board,” said Council Member Gale A. Brewer. “OCM was never intended to be an enforcement agency and the city hasn’t found a way to close stores methodically. This legislation should help.”
“I’m proud to support Majority Leader Keith Powers’ legislation to help crack down on illegal smoke shops. Illegal smoke shops have created serious public safety issues that continue to escalate. They also undermine the work we’ve done to create a legal market to help those negatively affected by drug laws. This bill will help ensure we get this right,” said City Council Member Oswald Feliz.
“I fully support Council Member Powers’ legislation that will equip authorities with the tools needed to protect our city and uphold the integrity of the legal cannabis market. Amending the Nuisance Abatement Law to include illegal cannabis shops takes a significant step in addressing a growing problem of unlicensed smoke shops in our city,” said Council Member Julie Menin, Chair of the Committee on Small Business.
“The proliferation of illegal pot shops throughout the city has become a blight and nuisance along our commercial districts,” said Fred Cerullo, President and CEO of the Grand Central Partnership. “In order to shut these illegal businesses down, we need to empower our law enforcement agencies with the legal tools to take aggressive action. I applaud Councilmember Powers for his plan to amend our Nuisance Abatement Law to snuff these bad actors out.”
“Carnegie Hill Neighbors is committed to supporting local, small business and any aggressive action to shut down illegal smoke shops and unlicensed cannabis dispensaries that cause financial harm and damage to the integrity of legitimate, licensed cannabis dispensaries operating in New York City has our full support,” said Joanna Cawley, Executive Director of Carnegie Hill Neighbors.
“The East 86th Street Association backs any and all efforts to put illegal cannabis stores out of business. They are a public safety and health hazard and undermine the entire program of legalization, which properly administered, would raise needed revenue to the State. We applaud CM Powers’ efforts to get this program back on track,” said Andrew Fine, Vice President of the East 86th Street Association.
“Community Board 6 has been on the forefront of confronting illegal cannabis operations through the leadership of John Keller, Claire Brennan, and Elvy Barroso (Chairs of our Youth and Education, Business Affairs and Licensing, and Health and Human Services committees). We are committed to confronting illegal cannabis operations for the safety and comfort of our community, while also supporting law-abiding and community-driven new businesses. We are thankful to Councilmember Powers for working with Community Board 6’s illegal cannabis task force to produce legislation that will empower the City to immediately shut down illegal operations that undermine legal operators, and also pose a public health and safety threat,” said Kyle Athayde, Chair of Manhattan Community Board 6.
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