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Owner of Illegal Pot Shops on UWS to Pay Restitution, Forfeit Proceeds and Cease Sales

DA’s office announces resolution of criminal investigation Tuesday

July 18, 2023 | 1:59 PM
in NEWS
63
Lincoln Convenience at Broadway and 70th Street. Photo by D. Katzive.

By Daniel Katzive

The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Tuesday announced the resolution of a criminal investigation into a number of unlicensed cannabis stores on the Upper West Side. The owner has agreed to pay over $400,000 and to stop selling cannabis products. 

Rami Alzandani, owner of 10 stores in Manhattan, including five on the Upper West Side, entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the DA’s office. Under the agreement, Alzandani will pay $103,000 in restitution to the New York State Department of Tax and Finance, and forfeit an additional $300,000 in illegal proceeds. Four of the stores, including two located on the UWS, pled guilty to one count of Criminal Possession of Cannabis in the Second Degree and were sentenced to a conditional discharge and a $5,000 fine.

All the stores can remain open but are explicitly barred from selling cannabis products and will be subject to continued unannounced inspections for three years.  Alzandani must get approval from the DA’s office before selling his stores. 

The stores on the Upper West Side that were subject to this agreement were:

  • Lincoln Convenience, at Broadway and West 70th Street;
  • West Coast Convenience, at 176 West 72nd Street;
  • Jacks Convenience, at Broadway and 109th;
  • Ignite Convenience, at 214 West 72nd Street; and,
  • Amsterdam Varieties, at 228 Amsterdam Avenue (note WSR was not able to locate this exact address or find any establishment with that name in the area where that address would be). 

The DA also indicated that, in addition to Alzandani’s stores, three cannabis sellers were evicted by their landlords or were in the process of being evicted and that the office was also pursuing other similar criminal prosecutions.

This week’s news comes about seven months after a sweep of five Upper West Side smoke shops by the NYPD and New York City Sheriff’s Office. That operation, as covered by the WSR at the time, resulted in confiscation of over $200,000 worth of THC products, untaxed cigarettes, and flavored vapes and $16,000 in fines. The bulk of the seizures in that January sweep came from stores not included in this week’s agreement.

Referring to this week’s operation, District 6 City Councilmember Gale Brewer said in a statement “I believe we are seeing a turning point when it comes to illegal shops, and this investigation shows something we have suspected all along, which is common ownership of multiple unlicensed stores.”

 

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63 Comments
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UWS-er of 25 years
UWS-er of 25 years
1 year ago

They either continue to sell or close. No way they can afford the lease otherwise.

42
Reply
Linda
Linda
1 year ago

Thank you to Manhattan DA office, NYPD, and New York City Sheriff’s office!!!

23
Reply
Jim
Jim
1 year ago
Reply to  Linda

Now we need to close the other 1000 stores wonder how long that will take.

45
Reply
sean
sean
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim

👍

5
Reply
72RSD
72RSD
1 year ago

Amazing to have laws finally enforced.

It looks like eleven stores were covered by this agreement. It’s pretty stunning that almost half of the stores were basically at the corner of 72nd and Broadway/Amsterdam.

32
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
1 year ago
Reply to  72RSD

They should have gotten to the one on West End between 69th and 70th. An obvious go-to (and stay away from).

11
Reply
D M
D M
1 year ago

They are allowed to stay open? Of course they will sell everything they have sold before. $400,000 is nothing to compare to the revenue from illegal drugs. Cheaper than a license. That’s the owner’s business model.

38
Reply
HR Christian
HR Christian
1 year ago
Reply to  D M

Marijuana is not illegal. The amounts these stores have to keep to sell are illegal. The lack of a license to operate is illegal. NY screwed up. Mayor Adams himself gave the go-ahead for vendors to sell. Now that the short-sighted politicians in Albany tried to make the roll out into some social justice cause for people who were caught up in the system by giving them sole ownership of dispensaries. That’s a terrible move. And the “legal” dispensaries are too few and far between to effectively cover NYC. I’m one of the people who was so happy to see a clean shop open near my apartment. I have chronic crippling pain and marijuana helps with it. If some people don’t like having safe legal weed sold in their neighborhoods I suggest they also protest every liquor store or every bodega that sells cigarettes and beer. The hostility for weed stores is misplaced. People have the right to not like something but this was supposed to be a done deal. When NYS legislature made weed legal at the state level they completely dropped the ball on a reasonable and fair way for people (and not just former victims of unjust policy) to make money legally while providing people with marijuana for both recreation and therapy.

22
Reply
Best side?
Best side?
1 year ago
Reply to  HR Christian

You can buy alcohol and cigarettes with credit cards, apple pay, etc bc they are legal federally, meaning transactions can clear through the federal banking system. Marijuana is not legal at the federal level, meaning these businesses are largely cash only. And that attracts crime

16
Reply
Chris Everett
Chris Everett
1 year ago
Reply to  HR Christian

^This. NY’s botched rollout is disgraceful and un-democratic.

5
Reply
Sal Bando
Sal Bando
1 year ago
Reply to  HR Christian

There are hundreds of more places in the neighborhood to buy alcohol than marijuana even though alcohol is much more harmful. And not one legal marijuana store.

8
Reply
EdNY
EdNY
1 year ago
Reply to  Sal Bando

Alcohol doesn’t pollute the air.

25
Reply
David
David
1 year ago
Reply to  EdNY

no it doesn’t. alcohol pollutes your brain

2
Reply
Anna
Anna
1 year ago
Reply to  David

Pot not only pollutes your brain, it pollutes the brains of everyone within breathing distance.
I don’t care what you put in your brain and lungs, but don’t impose it on mine.

13
Reply
Ish Kabibble
Ish Kabibble
1 year ago
Reply to  EdNY

Neither does marijuana

0
Reply
Barbara Hanks
Barbara Hanks
1 year ago
Reply to  EdNY

But it does kill people on road

3
Reply
Chris Everett
Chris Everett
1 year ago
Reply to  EdNY

Cigarettes, then.

1
Reply
Varun
Varun
1 year ago

Let us please remember stories like these come primary season next year!

6
Reply
Chandler
Chandler
1 year ago

Strongly pro-cannabis and also strongly pro-small business… Which is why we as New Yorkers need to purchase our THC *exclusively* from legitimate storefronts like Smacked, Union Square Travel Agency, and Housing Works. These folks have jumped through all of the appropriate hoops and then some to provide safe, high quality products that will get you mega stoned. I don’t know why more consumers aren’t aware of the difference!

10
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
1 year ago
Reply to  Chandler

Why not grow your own? Is that still illegal? I don’t get it.

1
Reply
Carmella Ombrella
Carmella Ombrella
1 year ago
Reply to  Phoebe

As I understand the law, you can grow your own legally IF you are registered as a patient who needs it for medical reasons. And the amount you can grow, IIRC, is limited to about 4 plants.

1
Reply
Barry Zuckerkorn
Barry Zuckerkorn
1 year ago
Reply to  Chandler

The gray market shops are profitable because the legitimate storefronts are failing to meet demand.

There are 8 legal dispensaries in the entire city of New York right now. That’s not nearly enough to serve the whole city. The city bureaucracy has completely failed to issue licenses expeditiously.

New York is responsible for the gray market because they haven’t even come close to providing a legal market that is sufficiently large.

Last edited 1 year ago by Barry Zuckerkorn
15
Reply
moosey
moosey
1 year ago

I’ll believe it when I see it!

1
Reply
Janeen
Janeen
1 year ago

“All the stores can remain open but are explicitly barred from selling cannabis products and will be subject to continued unannounced inspections for three years. “. This is a joke. These stores are a disgrace. They devalue our neighborhoods and attract undesirable customers.

56
Reply
Dana
Dana
1 year ago
Reply to  Janeen

Yes, the stench is unbearable. Everywhere, on the streets, in the park, etc. The pot smokers feel free to plop on a bench next to moms with strollers and start puffing away. I’m not even talking about smoking around older children, their rights are above everyone else’s and common curtesy.

What happened about not smoking in the parks? Cigarette smoking was banned, but nobody bothers pot smokers. Pot smokers ruin not only our quality of life, but our health and are exposing our children to it. But nobody is enforcing the existing no smoking laws.

45
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
1 year ago
Reply to  Janeen

That’s because people are delivering it. Also, people are adulterating it and re-selling it. And who is to know it isn’t already contaminated with something? It’s not regulated. Of course, many of us predicted this would happen.

8
Reply
HR Christian
HR Christian
1 year ago
Reply to  Janeen

Many of the “undesirable customers” are also your neighbors. There are a lot of places that opened around here, but I sure haven’t seen housing prices go down.

4
Reply
sean
sean
1 year ago
Reply to  Janeen

Sadly this is true — i can’t eat a meal on the UWS without the heavy smell which lingers .. sometimes from opened windows above the restaurants .. Aa well as watching a couple smoke right in the outdoor space where food is served They we’re sitting at a table .. 🙁

28
Reply
Ish Kabibble
Ish Kabibble
1 year ago
Reply to  sean

100% legal to do so

2
Reply
Jen
Jen
1 year ago
Reply to  Ish Kabibble

No, it isn’t. No smoking is permitted at restaurants, indoors or outdoors.

16
Reply
Thomas
Thomas
1 year ago

Can someone come clean up the mess that is the west 90s now? It’s out of control

12
Reply
Protect our children
Protect our children
1 year ago

Glad that you are questioning the nonexistent address. The closest name seems to be Amsterdam Variety Store at1997 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10032 @ 159th Street? Or is if a cover for a larger criminal enterprise that can easily afford the fines, no matter how high.

Kudos to our UWS hero, Gale Brewer, for pointing out the major failure of other elected officials to prevent illegal drug dealers from renting stores and opening businesses near schools!

1
Reply
sean
sean
1 year ago
Reply to  Protect our children

👍

0
Reply
70s Corner Guy
70s Corner Guy
1 year ago
Reply to  Protect our children

Gale Brewer UWS hero? Ha. Too little too late. She was on the corners speaking to constituents when she was looking for our vote. But the past year, she’s MiA in my eyes. Now how about focusing on all the e-bikes and speeding delivery bike drivers who will sooner kill you or me than the harm these pot shops do (which admittedly needed to go).

44
Reply
Gertrude
Gertrude
1 year ago
Reply to  70s Corner Guy

Amen. They were told by the community that these were illegal shops a year ago when they got robbed.

24
Reply
HR Christian
HR Christian
1 year ago
Reply to  70s Corner Guy

Amen to the bikes but I disagree on the shops needing to go.

2
Reply
Jay
Jay
1 year ago

If Mr. Alzandani owns ten of these stores , he likely has partners. Or he has significant other business holdings that are not small retail stores.

It would be nice to know the partners’ names and/or the names of his other businesses.

9
Reply
sean
sean
1 year ago

Yes! To cleaning up the mess created —

4
Reply
Josh P.
Josh P.
1 year ago

Quoting from the other WSR marijuana article – “ New York state did something different from other states. It decided that the first legal recreational dispensary licenses would go to people who have been impacted by cannabis-related convictions.” Now that these shops have settled a criminal investigation they should be eligible to get an official license!

6
Reply
Rich
Rich
1 year ago

Another term for a “convenience store” where I’m from is ‘bodega’, although this implies that the store is Hispanic-owned. It’s not uncommon for these stores to be family-owned and operated by Middle Eastern or Latin American immigrants. Not that their ethnicities should matter.

I live in a poor neighborhood where four convenience stores are all run by the same family, and what’s sold more often than not is junk food, processed cold cuts, and loose cigarettes. They contribute to what is known as “food deserts”. In other locations I have seen these cannabis spots operate. And yes, they can become a blight on business sectors trying to make an honest living.

6
Reply
72RSD
72RSD
1 year ago
Reply to  Rich

A generation ago in this neighborhood they were predominantly run by Chinese and Korean families. And we called them “delis”.

I believe the “bodega” term was imported by millennials who moved to the city after graduating college.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/nyregion/korean-grocers-a-new-york-fixture-are-on-the-decline.html

But you are correct, many are run by groups such as Yemenis. They even have a lobbying group, which as adopted the term “bodega”!

https://www.yamausa.org/

1
Reply
Brandon
Brandon
1 year ago

“All the stores can remain open but are explicitly barred from selling cannabis products” Isn’t that true of every store in the city except tje very few wirh a license? It is illegeal to sell withoutva license.

8
Reply
Glen
Glen
1 year ago

Too bad it’s a “non-prosecution” agreement. Had he been prosecuted he’d be eligible for a license to sell legally. What an idiotic law, but it’s NYS, so what could anyone expect?

10
Reply
Sam
Sam
1 year ago

Close all these “smoke” shops.

20
Reply
Vikki S.
Vikki S.
1 year ago

Very glad Jack’s is staying open. Walk by there many times a week and sometimes go in. As smoke shops always have, they sell lots of stuff besides cannabis. I like that young people hang out there; I like the vibe. I feel like it become part of my neighborhood quickly and hope it’s here to stay.

6
Reply
D M
D M
1 year ago
Reply to  Vikki S.

Me too, Vikki, I do enjoy this lively vibe this shop added to the neighborhood. It was definitely too boring and unexciting and lacked this vibrance and character.

Young people hanging out in smoke shop is another wonderful thing – they are our future after all! The shops work way better and attract more young people than mundane after school programs .

12
Reply
Jen
Jen
1 year ago
Reply to  Vikki S.

What “stuff” exactly besides cannabis do you think attracts young people? What is it exactly about the vibe you like so much that you want it to stay a part of our neighborhood?

15
Reply
UWS-er of 25 years
UWS-er of 25 years
1 year ago
Reply to  Vikki S.

It is hard to tell sometimes if a comment is a serious or an ironic one. Liking young people hanging out in smoke shops? Good vibe for the neighborhood?

23
Reply
Vikki S.
Vikki S.
1 year ago
Reply to  UWS-er of 25 years

Serious. Not ironic. I live in the neighborhood and that’s how I feel.

0
Reply
D M
D M
1 year ago
Reply to  Vikki S.

Wow! You support young people hanging out in smoke shops? I wasn’t sure if your comment is ironic or not but mine surely was.

6
Reply
Anna
Anna
1 year ago
Reply to  UWS-er of 25 years

OMG I was reading those comments as unironic. Truly horrifying.
Yes, D M, what our boring, characterless neighborhood needs is a lot more stoned teens and tweens to pep things up. Nothing says vibrant urban renaissance like young drug users.

Last edited 1 year ago by Anna
9
Reply
Molly
Molly
1 year ago

OK Gale Brewer—nice statement but where is your statement and signature support for bill 1099 in support of Senior City Retirees Medicare. Words are cheap .

16
Reply
Wayne Z.
Wayne Z.
1 year ago

It’ll be sad to see that Broadway & 70th weed shop close down. I say that not as a customer, but as someone who always enjoyed walking by the lively dereliction it fueled around Sherman Square.

14
Reply
Harrison Tiles
Harrison Tiles
1 year ago

How about cracking down on fair jumpers!!! MTA loses $650mm a year. Which is more important? Stopping stores from selling. A LEGALIZED product or keeping the MTA afloat???

1
Reply
Wayne Z.
Wayne Z.
1 year ago
Reply to  Harrison Tiles

Who said they were mutually exclusive?

11
Reply
J. L. Rivers
J. L. Rivers
1 year ago

I hope they don’t turn to selling stuff under the counter.

0
Reply
CGR
CGR
1 year ago

228 Amsterdam Avenue must be that Lincoln Convenience store … Ehrlich’s Wine & Liquors is at 222 Amsterdam (cor 70th St) …

0
Reply
Daniel Katzive (Author)
Daniel Katzive (Author)
1 year ago
Reply to  CGR

Hi. Addresses get complicated there as Broadway and Amsterdam run concurrently. Lincoln is separately listed in the DA’s press release and has a Broadway address. I was unable to find any building with a 228 Amsterdam address, nor was there any store with that Amsterdam Varieties name operating in the general area. The DA’s office did not explain the apparent discrepancy but confirmed that 228 Amsterdam was correct so it is unclear which place of business that refers to.

2
Reply
Nila R. Perez
Nila R. Perez
1 year ago
Reply to  Daniel Katzive (Author)

Makes me wonder if that weird seemingly non-existent address is actually a “storefront” within another store, operating under the radar, as it were. For example, it could simply be a person renting just a counter and selling inside another store and sharing profits with the main store’s owner. Does that sound plausible?

0
Reply
Ellen
Ellen
1 year ago

They were not allowed to be selling cannabis initially, but they did, they got caught and fined. Now they are being punished and told that under no uncertain terms, they are not allowed to sell cannabis. OK, who else sees the irony? How long until they start selling again? Did they tell him he can never get a license or just don’t do it until or unless you get a license? Like that stopped him before. Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids.

15
Reply
uwsider
uwsider
1 year ago

I will take a cannabis vendor over a vacant storefront any day.

You can close all the storefronts and people will just go back to ordering from delivery services. Same product going to same people but with the added benefit that we get all our scary abandoned storefronts back.

The idea of exclusively state sanctioned cannabis is a joke. For 75 years they told us all cannabis was evil. Then all of sudden they say “hey it’s OK, in fact it’s medicine, but you have to buy state licensed production in a non-existent distribution system or it’s still evil.” Nobody cares.

I’ll take all the people crying about the need to close these shops seriously when they also demand every liquor store be shut down.

1
Reply
GCo
GCo
1 year ago

Was walking by Jacks on BWay and 109 after reading this article. Popped in out of curiosity. Lots of empty shelves and display cases but a simple “you still sell weed?” got a “YES” response. I appreciate the effort. It’s better than nothing. But after 2+ years of tactic approval, it’s going to take a lot more than this to shut these places down.

3
Reply
Dave
Dave
1 year ago

Good job Ny. Legalize with zero plans on how distribution will go then fine and close down local small business in exchange for more empty storefronts. Shame on you. You are the ones who need a puff; then maybe you’ll realize we need real help with our very real issues. Not this

0
Reply

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