Lawmakers call for legislation giving NYC power to close illegal smoke shops
NEW YORK -- There are more calls to crack down on illegal smoke shops in New York City.
In Pelham Bay, there was near universal agreement from residents who spoke to CBS New York.
'It's just everywhere, and unfortunately I think they're not taking into consideration the children," one person said.
"It brings a bad element to the neighborhood because there's too many," another person said.
"We're going to smoke 'em all out and close down all of these illegal smoke shops once and for all," Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar said.
She is now calling for her SMOKEOUT Act to be included in the state budget, giving local governments the explicit power to shut them down.
"And the police want to do the job, they really want to do the job. They haven't been given the legal right to close these places down," said Bob Bieber, 45th Precinct Community Council president.
"The SMOKEOUT Act will give New York City the power to close down these illegal smoke shops. Currently, only the state of New York has the power to do that," Rajkumar said. "The state budget is due in five days. We are asking that the SMOKEOUT Act be passed in the state budget so we can take care of this problem once and for all."
Lawmakers say the SMOKEOUT Act allows local authorities to close retail locations that sell cannabis without a license. It would also allow the seizure of real estate being used for unlawful sales.
"SMOKEOUT" stands for "Stop Marijuana Over-proliferation and Keep Empty Operators of Unlicensed Transactions."
The current law is so weak, these illegal stores operate in plain sight.
"It's difficult to see. Especially, we out here trying to do things right as the state required," said Alex Ortecho, owner of Bronx Joint, a legal and licensed dispensary in Hunts Point.
Ortecho says he was convicted when he was younger after he was caught with marijuana in his possession. Now, he's been rewarded with one of the state's first licenses.
Every drink, gummy and flower in his dispensary is made in New York and tightly regulated. He hopes buyers will notice the difference.
"We just gotta try to build our brand up and promote our New York brands and all the good farmers and product that's coming out of New York," Ortecho said.
The clock is ticking to get that bill into the budget. It's due on Monday, but as is often the case with Albany, it's running late.
In recent months, Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for a crackdown on illegal shops, saying they are hurting licensed marijuana dispensaries. The governor has said she wants to give local governments the power to padlock illegal shops and is asking websites like Google and Yelp to omit illegal shops from search results.
According to city records, there are hundreds of illegal smoke shops across the five boroughs.
Since recreational marijuana was legalized in 2021, the New York Cannabis Control Board has granted 223 adult-use licenses statewide. Earlier this month, Hochul ordered a review of the state's cannabis licensing operation to "identify opportunities for improvement."
