An illegal pot shop in Brooklyn will be the first establishment to be permanently padlocked for selling marijuana products without a license after New York State authorities obtained the first court order to shutter an outlaw weed store.
Big Chief Smoke Shop — located in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood near a Catholic church — had been shut down previously for operating without a state license but kept reopening, officials said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s thrilled to wack the illegal weed dealer located at 7323 Third Avenue, working in tandem with state Attorney General Letitia James.
“We have no tolerance for illicit retailers who break the law and undermine our nation-leading adult-use cannabis industry,” Hochul said Monday.
Big Chief sold cannabis without a license and ignored repeated orders by the Office of Cannabis Management and other law enforcement authorities to stop operating, authorities said.
Investigators from OCM and the state Department of Taxation and Finance inspected the store on two prior occasions and confiscated more than 600 pounds of flowered marijuana and other cannabis products that were not tested by regulators, valued at $6.7 million.
Bay Ridge community leaders complained about Big Chief and the local community board passed a unanimous resolution demanding that the unlicensed shop — located near our Lady of Angels Church, get shut down.
“There were endless complaints,” said Councilman Justin Brannan, who reps Bay Ridge. “The shop would shut down — and then reopen.”
A release put out by Hochul’s office said the store’s owner could be fined “millions of dollars in penalties” as a result of the shutdown.
At the request of regulators, Attorney General James filed a petition seeking an emergency order under the revised cannabis law approved earlier this year by Hochul and the legislature, seeking to immediately shut down Big Chief Smoke Shop.
In addition, the petition seeks to force the store owner to pay penalties for violating the cannabis law — up to $10,000 for each day in which a retailer sells cannabis without a license, and a penalty of up to $20,000 for each day an unlicensed dealer continues to sell pot after receiving an order to cease operating from OCM.
“Unlicensed cannabis stores selling unregulated products pose a health risk to New Yorkers and hurt the businesses that are following the rules,” AG James said.
“Cannabis businesses, just like any other industry in New York, must follow rules and regulations to safely operate and pay their fair share of taxes.”
Authorities have shut down eight other unlicensed marijuana shops outside the city. Still, state regulators admit there’s still much work to do.
As many as 1,500 illegal pot shops are operating in the city, Mayor Eric Adams and Sheriff Anthony Miranda said earlier this year.
There are 38 state-licensed cannabis retailers in the state, 15 of them located in the Big Apple.
“We have a lot of work to do but we will continue to protect what we are building and to ensure that revenue intended to rebuild communities isn’t lining the pockets of these operators who are selling untested and unsafe products that threaten the public health of New York’s cannabis consumers,” said OCM executive director Chris Alexander.
Frustrated cannabis industry licensees and applications have complained of a slow and rocky rollout, caused in part by lawsuits, after then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers legalized the sale of cannabis in 2021.
There were 426 licensees impacted by the lawsuits, and farmers have complained of getting stuck with mountains of spoiled marijuana plants they’ve been unable to sell.
The Hochul administration and cannabis control board recently settled a discrimination lawsuit alleging that the state favored convicted pot felons over disabled veterans in the awarding of licenses to sell legal marijuana.
A court injunction issued in August blocked new licensing and store openings, leaving the pot industry in legal limbo.
With the legal problems cleared up, state regulators are expected to ramp up approval and opening of new licensed cannabis shops in the coming months.