New York sheriff discusses efforts to crack down on illegal tobacco stores at Astoria meeting

May 30, 2024 By Queens Post News Team

New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda spoke Wednesday evening to a crowd of more than 100 people at a meeting of the Astoria Homeowners, Tenants, & Business Civic Association, highlighting efforts to crack down illegal smoking shops in the city.

The New York City Sheriff's Joint Compliance Task Force, comprised of members of the Sheriff's Office, the New York Police Department, and the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, has conducted searches throughout May as part of an operation called “Locks to Protect,” a new initiative from Mayor Eric Adams to permanently close all illegal cannabis stores in the city.

Speaking at Wednesday night's civic association meeting at Pistilli Grand Manor, 45-02 Ditmars Blvd., Miranda said the task force has imposed more than $17 million in civil penalties across the city ​​since the initiative began earlier in May, adding that more than $7 million in civil penalties from illegal products have been seized.

In Queens, the task force attempted 133 inspections and issued 56 cease-and-desist orders to illegal smoke shops. Miranda said the sheriff's office has levied more than $3.8 million in civil fines in Queens and seized nearly $2 million in illegal products throughout the borough.

Additionally, the task force issued 54 sealing orders in Queens, while it arrested seven people and issued 13 court summonses during the searches.

Miranda told Astoria that the task force has the authority to search smoke shops based on “civil enforcement criteria,” meaning it can only impose civil penalties on owners of illegal smoke shops.

However, he said some smoke shop operators have been arrested after being found in possession of illegal firearms or illegal narcotics such as cocaine or fentanyl.

Miranda told residents it is imperative that cannabis be sold in legal dispensaries, saying illegal smoke shops often sell cannabis to minors and sometimes sell tainted products, leading to illness.

“If you see a legal cannabis store, they are not selling cannabis to our children. They don't package cannabis like these illegal smoke shops do. They do not mix their products. They are selling a regulated product,” Miranda said Wednesday evening. “We know it’s safe and we know it doesn’t affect minors. It's a controlled environment and that's what we wanted when we passed the law (to legalize cannabis).

“This is what the law provided. It also meant that these businesses would generate some tax revenue that would support other services in our city. These smokehouses do not pay taxes. Not only are they endangering the health of our children and endangering people who want to use cannabis, but they are also stealing from our communities every day.

Miranda further said the task force will work with landlords who have unwittingly rented their properties to illegal smoke shops and now have no way to “get them out.”

He said the task force would target landlords who actively participated in the creation of illegal smoke shops rather than those who entered into a lease with a tenant under false pretenses.

“We want to make sure that we hold the property owners who participate in the process accountable and fine them accordingly,” Miranda told residents.

“There are opportunities for business owners to request a termination of the sealing order provided they follow the rules and regulations prohibiting re-leasing the property to another cannabis business. They must rent it from a legally operated business. We then go in to inspect it and make sure, then hand over the location to the owner. But they must be legal entities and companies.

“If we go back a second time and see illegal activity, we will hold the owners accountable. »

Miranda, along with Deputy Inspector Seth Lynch of the 114th Precinct, urged local residents to refrain from shopping at illegal smoke shops, even if it is purchasing non-cannabis products such as bread or sodas.

Lynch, who was appointed deputy inspector for the 114th Precinct covering Astoria, Woodside, Jackson Heights and Long Island City, also told residents that crime had decreased slightly in the area over the past 28 days, saying that criminal assaults and burglaries had decreased slightly. recently.

However, Lynch said theft and grand larceny have increased slightly over the past 28 days.

“In the southern and eastern ends of the constituency we see people traveling around town on mopeds. They can easily travel from the Bronx and Manhattan and evade us and they commit robberies at gunpoint in addition to armed robberies,” Lynch told residents Wednesday.
He said three individuals were carrying out the robberies, adding that two of them were apprehended by New York police while one remained at large.

Lynch also encouraged residents to be vigilant about scams, especially due to the rise of artificial intelligence.

“They might even imitate my voice and tell any story about why you should give money to the police department, which, of course, we never do.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing individuals fall for these scams – whether online or over the phone – and lose large sums of money.”

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