Illegal Pot Shop Crackdown Tells NYC Landlords To Snuff Out Sales

NEW YORK CITY — Just say no to illegal pot shops, or else.

That's the message New York City officials said they'll this week send landlords of 50 buildings across the five boroughs where tenants have been dinged for unlicensed cannabis or tobacco sales.

Shops at those buildings have received more than $7 million in penalties already, with nearly $4 million of illegal products seized, officials said.

"To support the emerging, legal cannabis market, we must go after the bad actors who are breaking the law," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Monday.

City Hall officials didn't respond to Patch's request for a list of properties where letters will be sent.

But a form letter provided by City Hall shows that sheriff's officials will warn landlords will face fines, including up to three times rent being charged, and their tenants could be forcibly evicted if unlicensed cannabis sales continue.

The landlord crackdown is only the latest high-profile effort to snuff out the hundreds or more unlicensed pot shops that have exploded across New York City since recreational marijuana was legalized.

The state's slow actions in setting up official cannabis licenses since legalization in 2021 allowed a constellation of unlicensed pot shops to spring up in the meantime — a development that officials argue threatens the legal cannabis industry.