The city closed 75 unlicensed cannabis shops during the first week of a five-borough operation to shut down the shops, the mayor’s office said Tuesday.
The initiative, known as “Operation Padlock to Protect,” kicked off last week. A joint task force made up of members of the Sheriff’s Office, the NYPD and the city’s Department of Worker Protection conducted 150 inspections in that first week, the city said. Through those inspections, 75 shops were sealed, 370 notices of violations were issued and more than $5.9 million in penalties were issued, the mayor’s office said.
The operation was launched after local authorities were given the ability to padlock the shops as part of the state budget.
“I really want to take my hat off to Sheriff [Anthony Miranda] for his actions and Albany giving us some of the tools we needed to go after these illegal shops,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the briefing. “They have become a magnet for violence, and a magnet for targeting our children with bad practices.”