By Ed Hersh
There was a break-in early this morning at the Exotic Smoke Shop, at 483 Columbus Avenue, between 83rd and 84th Streets, just days after it opened.
“Shortly after 3 a.m. on Wednesday, three suspects threw a cobblestone through the glass door, entered, and removed over $30,000 worth of property,” an NYPD spokesperson told the Rag. No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
WSR has been reporting on the proliferation of convenience stores and smoke shops in the neighborhood, some of which have been selling marijuana products, despite the fact that there are currently no legal retail dispensaries licensed in New York State.
And there have been a number of crimes targeting these stores as they have become more widespread.
We will update this story when more is known.
In California, and Illinois cannabis is sold in secure, nondescript retail establishments where you have to show ID to an armed security guard in the vestibule which is scanned before you allowed to enter the retail area. Once you’ve made your selections, you pay, and the product is brought out from a secure area in the back. Even in Canada, where there is no security guard to get in, the retailers maintain the merch in a secure locked area in the back, and brought out after the sale. Our local cannabis retailers do not seem to understand this, and the reasoning behind it. Considering cannabis retail tends to be all cash transactions, I am afraid for the well being of the clerks will staff the shops.
Used to live on the UWS until COVID hit but now I’m in LA County. I miss a few NYC things but generally I wish I’d moved here 20 years ago! Glen is absolutely correct. I just went through the process he describes.
“Property” has been stolen. I’m sure it was all cheap legal stuff like … wait, what kind of legal stuff do these stores sell?
Lots of stuff. Most vape products are legal. Delta 8, delta 10, THC-O, CBD, kratom, HHC are all legal. The thing that’s not (yet) is delta 9 or just straight up THC or marijuana. If you’re looking for something similar but not as strong as marijuana or delta 9 try the delta 8. It’s made from legal hemp.
No gate? Just all that merchandise behind glass overnight? What were they thinking.
i dont want to put this on anyone in particular, as i feel for the business owners even if they had 30k of weed stolen.
but i imagine a lot of people rushing to open up these not-so-gray area bodega/dispensaries are just trying to get in on the action, and sometimes forget to check in on the details like whether you have a gate protecting your store heh.
In some parts of the city, the gates are illegal.
Solid- panel roll down security gates for commercial storefronts illegal to install since 2011 and existing ones have to be removed or replaced with see-through, open-grille gates (or other legal devices) by 2026.
Considering these smoke shops are a blight on the neighborhood, I’m regarding this as good news. 🙂
Seriously? You think burglary of a business is “good news” just because you don’t like the store? How would you like it if somebody broke into your apartment or your business? Maybe somebody thinks you’re a blight on the neighborhood…
Amen
What if some innocent person was coming home from work when this happened…do you think the people who did this wouldn’t be armed? What kind of bubble do you live in that you’ve twisted a break in and robbery into ‘good new?!’ It’s CRIMINALS that are the blight on the neighborhood. : (
Why does cannabis have to be sold in a store with security guards and a “pay first, we’ll bring it out after” situation?
Why is toothpaste locked up at Target?
For the same reasons many liquor stores need such a situation.
They need security guards bc as long as cannabis remains illegal at federal level banks will not permit credit cards at dispensaries – so it’s an all cash biz and a huge target for robberies
@good humor: “Why?” Did you read the article?
Can someone please ask Brad Hoylman what his plan is to deal with situations like this and whether this is really a problem? And I want solutions that will solve this asap, not long-term plans that will take 3-5 years. He seems to think pretty much everything is hunky-dory and in cases where it is not, long term solutions are the only answer.
Apparently a majority of our neighbors are OK with this. I’m not. And I don’t care what the store is selling. This type of crime is unacceptable and if the criminals are caught and found guilty, they should be severely punished.
agreed re: 3-5 years…anyone trying to solve this problem needs to admit that it comes in combination with a legitimate answer for what legal cannabis sales in NYC will actually look like, in the short term.
Hoylman? Snort. What is any elected official doing about anything? Crime, illegal mopeds, the e-vehicle free-for-all. Weed smoke everywhere. Trash and broken glads everywhere. Zip.
Why is there no gate on the store?
Crooks stealing from crooks. How many of these places are legitimate, given they are openly violating the law with now?
[…] Delta 8, delta 10, THC-O, CBD, kratom, HHC are all legal. The thing that's not (yet) is delta 9 or just straight up THC or marijuana. Source link […]
It can vary from state to state and it changes quickly. Delta 8 for example is legal at the federal level and was unregulated in NY until very recently when the state DOH passed some rules regarding manufacture and sales. I had to get an update on that myself. You have to look it up because it’s changing all the time from state to state. I had heard about delta 8 regs being proposed but didn’t realize they passed a short while ago.
Not that anyone seems to care. And really, it’s all going to be legal in a few months, hopefully with rules and regulations for safe sales.
These cannabis stores are the next targets for thugs. Drug seeking people will go to these stores. Nothing like selling drugs.
There are currently four of these “smoke shops” within a block radius of my apartment. They attract a sleazy crowd and kids walk by them on their way to a nearby elementary school.
I don’t believe anybody thinks the proliferation of these stores is good for the neighborhood.
I’m not happy this store was robbed but these “smoke shops” are operating in a gray area of the law. It’s a shame our elected officials are doing absolutely NOTHING as far as investigating their legality and possibly limiting the number of them allowed to operate in the neighborhood.
Instead, Gale Brewer is wasting everyone’s time trying to prevent the demolition of a rundown, unsafe and unused church and railing against “dark stores” for food delivery services.
Pathetic.
LOCK. LOCK LOCK THE DOOR DOOR DOOR!!!
BOLT THE DOOR!!!
Bill deBlasio will be with us for decades.
Are you kidding me? 84th St. on the upper West side is prime real estate. No one heard smashing at 3 o’clock in the morning? The police didn’t get there? No one was arrested? They got away with $30,000 worth of stuff? Clearly, the NYPD is just not doing any work that would fall under there a job description, and this mayor is already worse than the last. I used to live around the corner from there, if something like that would’ve happened, the police would’ve been there in less than four minutes. And everyone would’ve gone to jail. It’s not hard to imagine, this isn’t rocket science, these criminals aren’t breaking into Fort Knox, this is petty garbage, that should be easy work. I’m trying to imagine someone calling 911, and then dispatch tells them, don’t worry we’re sending a squad car immediately, and then they all hi5 each other and laugh.
The 20th precinct is 2 blocks away.
Literally a 30 second jog (200 yards) from the 20th precinct. Yet apparently no response while in progress. Draw you own conclusions. IMO, cops most likely knew but decided not to confront a burglar, possibly armed, of a sketchy new store. Can’t image no alarms on a brand new head shop, must have been loud.
get with it NYS! the revenue is needed what is taking so long!!!
Smell the money and act immediately
Get the dispensaries OPEN now!!!
This feels like turf warfare over an as-yet-unregulated business. Albany, you need to deal with this NOW.
When these smoke shops opened I could see the writing on the wall. They were just waiting for marijuana to be legalized.
Who owns all of these stores?
No laws!
NYC is going down the drain.