An illegal pot shop has brazenly opened up across from Queens’ civic hub — including its borough hall, DA’s office and state courthouse — and a store worker says the locale is totally awesome for business.
The site, which still has an old COVID-testing-center awning over it, opened about a week ago, the employee told The Post on Sunday — just a few months after Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature approved a tougher law to crack down on such illicit shops.
The store — steps away from the busy Kew Gardens Union Turnpike subway stop serving Queens Boulevard’s E and F lines — was serving up such cannabis-infused goodies as cherry limeade “Punch Gummies” on Sunday.
“We get customers from the DA’s office, from the court — I mean, I don’t know for sure, but they come from that way in suits, where else would they be from?” said a worker named Moe, who didn’t give his last name but added that his uncle owns the shop.
“We get people who have to go into court. If someone has court, they’ll go there and come here after to de-stress,” said Moe, adding that he moved to the city from Detroit to work at the shop, which has been doing brisk business and which his uncle claimed it was fully licensed.
The employee boasted about the shop’s ideal location as he nonchalantly allowed photos to be taken of its displays of cannabis edibles, flowered marijuana and other THC-infused products.
“If you’re near transportation, you’ll do good. We’re near two bus stops, two train stations. I’m the first [pot shop] people see when they get off,” Moe said.
He said he texted his uncle to see if he would respond to questions from the Post. The owner declined, Moe said.
There are 26 licensed cannabis shops in the Empire State, including 11 in New York City — and not one of which is located at the Queens site.
Another tell-tale sign that the weed dispensary is unlicensed is that all of its packages up for sale had a California stamp. Legal weed products sold in New York are manufactured here and must have an official New York stamp.
“Nobody cares anymore,” lamented Alex Najjar, who owns the All Star News Stand next to the unlicensed pot shop.
“They just call it a ‘smoke shop,’ get the license for cigarettes and then sell whatever. Nobody checks. Nobody enforces it,” said Naijar, who has owned his newstand for 16 years.
He said he pays a hefty annual fee to sell cigarettes at his stand and that it bothers him that a shop can just shrug off the law.
“It makes me feel like, why should I pay my fee for the year when I can just sell anything I want and no one cares?” Naijar said.
“I’m surprised they let it stay open, right here in front of the courthouse,” he added of the illicit site. “The [district attorney’s office] is right there. There are two schools near here, and the bus drops the kids off right around here. They can see everything through [the shop’s] windows.”
State lawmakers have come under fire for approving the law that legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2021 without addressing enforcement of illegal sales.
As a result of the program’s botched rollout, New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has estimated that there are about 1,500 unlicensed pot shops that have been allowed to flourish.
In February, The Post even reported an illegal pot shop opened right across from City Hall. Red-faced regulators eventually shut it down.
Since then, Hochul and the legislature approved a new law that beefed up enforcement and penalties against illicit operators.
Unlicensed pot sellers now face daily fines of up to $10,000 through administrative hearings, and regulators have the power to petition the state Supreme Court to padlock the premises if they fail to stop selling cannabis.
As part of the ramped-up enforcement, officials with the state Tax Department and Office of Cannabis Management have conducted 262 inspections, yielding more than 8,800 pounds of seized product worth in excess of $44 million. Some of the raided shops were closed.
But it looks as if state regulators are just playing whack-a-mole, given the enormous number of illicit cannabis shops sprouting up like weeds, raising questions as to whether there is adequate staffing to stamp them out.