NYC Will Force Landlords to Evict Illegal Weed Shops

New York City plans to require landlords to evict illegal weed sellers in Manhattan and will take on the eviction proceedings itself if a property owner fails to act, Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced earlier this month.

Under the city’s new initiative, retailers that sell marijuana without one of the 66 licenses the state has given out so far will be evicted from their retail shop, their goods will be confiscated, and they could be hit with a $5,000 fine, Adams said.

The DA already sent out letters to 400 illicit smoke shops in Manhattan warning them it will force landlords to evict tenants breaking the cannabis retail law.

“We won’t stop until every illegal smoke shop is rolled up and stubbed out,” Adams said in the press conference. “You can’t just open a shop and sell marajuana. There are rules, and we must abide by those rules in a real way.”