NYC landlords could face daily $1K fines for housing illegal pot shops
NEW YORK CITY - New York City is cracking down on landlords who own buildings that house illegal pot shops. At least 50 building owners have received letters – fix the problem, or expect big fines.
Across the five boroughs, there are around 2,500 illegal weed shops, according to data released by the state earlier this year.
Mayor Eric Adams had launched a task force that aimed to crack down on the illegal stores by going after the landlords who rent out their spaces to the vendors.
New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda leads the task force and said so far, over $40 million worth of illegal product has been seized, and over $23 million in civil penalties have been issued.
"We know that these people made a decision to operate outside of law," Miranda said. "That's why we have to take the approaches that we're doing right now."
The task force, at first, had only been targeting shops in Manhattan, but now, they'll be focusing on illegal shops across all five boroughs.
Featured
New York trying to address rise in illegal smoke shops
New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda testified as head of a multi-agency task force that has been shutting down those violating various laws.
Fifty landlords have already received a letter alerting them that an illegal shop is operating out of their location, and they could be fined up to $1,000 a day if it continues.
Sheriff Miranda admits more needs to be done on the state level to make it easier for police to crack down on the illegal weed stores.
Joe Schafer, an attorney representing cannabis businesses, said the best way to stop illegal weed stores is to open more legal ones.