Manhattan DA orders owner of 11 unlicensed weed bodegas to stop sales, pay $400,000 in fines

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has reached a deal with the owner of 11 convenience stores across two boroughs that have been selling cannabis illegally. The shops will be allowed to remain open, and the owner will avoid prosecution, as long as he no longer sells weed and pays hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the state, Bragg’s office announced on Tuesday.

This move is the first enforcement action Bragg’s office has announced as part of its strategy to target shop owners and landlords who are tied to multiple unlicensed cannabis shops.

“Cannabis legalization in New York state was designed to advance racial equity and fairness, and the rules must be followed,” Bragg said in a statement on the action. “Public safety is also harmed when there is such a huge proliferation of unlicensed and unregulated storefronts selling cannabis products that have not been properly inspected.”

The owner of the stores, Rami Alzandani, will have to pay $103,000 in restitution to the state Department of Taxation and Finance for selling untaxed products, and an additional $300,000, which the DA’s office said the shops earned in proceeds from the unlicensed sales. Alzandani pled guilty to a charge of criminal possession of cannabis in the second degree – meaning he had more than 5 pounds of marijuana or more than 2 pounds of concentrates – at four of the shops and received a $5,000 fine.

heading

Manhattan DA drops the weed hammer

image

image

None

caption

body

The stores covered under the new non-prosecution agreement are:

1. Lincoln Convenience Corp.: 2074 Broadway, New York, NY 10023
2. Lexhill Convenience Corp.: 1101 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10075
3. West Coast Convenience Corp.: 176 West 72nd Street, New York, NY 10023
4. On the Rocks Convenience Corp.: 60 West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036
5. Jeeters Convenience Corp.: 750 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10036
6. Jacks Convenience Corp.: 2812 Broadway, New York, NY 10025
7. Varieties on Broadway Corp.: 736 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
8. Rise and Shine Convenience Corp.: 3 Hanover Square, New York, NY 10005
9. Ignite Convenience Corp.: 214 West 72nd Street, New York, NY 10023
10. Amsterdam Varieties Corp.: 228 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10023
11. Myrtle Avenue Shop Inc.: 5402 Myrtle Avenue, Queens, NY 11385

His stores will be subject to regular inspections over the next three years to ensure they continue to abstain from selling cannabis, Bragg’s office said. All of the stores are located in Manhattan, except for one that is located in Ridgewood, Queens.

Alzandani could not immediately be reached for comment.

Unlicensed cannabis stores have become ubiquitous in New York City since the state legalized marijuana in March 2021. Enforcement against the unlicensed stores is now a major priority for some municipal and state lawmakers, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, but the crackdown has so far been an uphill battle. Some shops have continued selling cannabis after having their inventory raided or have only stopped after multiple enforcement attempts.

Only a handful of legal marijuana dispensaries are open in the five boroughs, even though 251 licenses have been issued statewide so far since the retail market opened in December.

The state’s Cannabis Control Board is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to approve more than 200 additional dispensary licenses — and on a proposal to allow distressed cannabis growers to sell their products directly to consumers through pop-up markets. Doing so would keep the products from rotting in storage while consumers wait for additional legal dispensaries to open their doors.

In an effort to get the legal shops up and running, New York state recently partnered with a private investment company to provide loans from a $200 million fund to dispensary licensees. New York City’s Economic Development Corporation announced Tuesday that it is launching a similar fund in partnership with the city’s Department of Small Business Services, and it is putting out a request for proposals for a fund administrator.

This municipal fund will start with an $8 million contribution from the Economic Development Corporation and aims to raise additional money from private investors to bring the total to $20 million to $30 million.