Adams Says There Are Now 2,900 Illegal Weed Stores in NYC As Sheriff Begins Big Crackdown
Mayor Eric Adams unveiled at a May 7 press briefing that raids on illegal weed shops were underway across the city that morning. Sheriff Anthony Miranda was supervising one raid with the NYPD at 110 Church St. a short distance from City Hall. Adams also revealed that the number of illegal cannabis shops in the city has climbed to 2,900.
| 13 May 2024 | 01:51
Sheriff Anthony Miranda steps out of the New City Smoke Shop, an illegal cannabis store in downtown Manhattan which was padlocked on May 7 after a raid by a joint task that included the sheriff’s office, the NYPD and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
Eric Adams revealed the city had begun a new effort to padlock illegal weed shops in the city as first deputy mayor Sheena Wright looks on at the May 7 City Hall press conference. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
NYPD officers cart away products seized in a raid on an illegal cannabis shop at 110 Church St. under supervision of Sheriff Anthony Miranda. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
The raid at the illegal weed shop was less than a block away from historic St. Peter’s Church. Sheriff Anthony Miranda said that the new crackdown will target illegal stores near schools and churches. He expects to be doing 75 t0 100 raids a day, the told Straus News. Photo: Keith J. Kelly
The city began a five-borough wide crackdown on illegal cannabis shops on May 7, with one underway at 110 Church St. only a short distance from City Hall where Mayor Eric Adams revealed that the number of illegal weed shops had ballooned to 2,900.
Most recent official estimates had but the number of illegal shops considerably lower at between 1,500 to 2,000.
”We’re going to make a considerable dent in the next 30 days,” Adams said.
During his press briefing, he attempted to make a connection with Sheriff Anthony Miranda via video who was in the midst of supervising a raid downtown at 110 Church St., but a glitchy connection forced the sheriff to call into the press conference on a cell phone instead.
Later at the site of the illegal weed store, New City Smoke Shop, Miranda told Straus News that the recently passed legislation in Albany gives the sheriff’s office a lot more tools.
”It was something we sought for quite a while. It’s great to be able to make an effective response to something that has been plaguing all our communities. We’ll have a greater and more concentrated effort.
He said the 250 members of the sheriff’s office are working with a task force that includes the NYPD and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection in the crackdown. “We’ll be doing 75 to 100 operations a day once we’re fully operational,” Miranda said.
He said the concentration initially will be on illegal shops that are close to schools and churches. “We’re targeting those locations first,” he said.
He pointed out that the raid at New City was less than a block away from historic St. Peter’s Church where he said he’d go to get ashes on Ash Wednesday. “We’ll be shutting down those establishments that are plaguing our communities.”