Cannabis retailers are growing like ‘weed’ in the neighborhood

Cannabis is easier to buy than ever before in Kingsbridge, where unlicensed smoke shops are opening at a dizzying pace despite the citywide crackdown Mayor Eric Adams promised last December.

An interagency task force headed by New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda’s office has not yet visited Kingsbridge, The Riverdale Press learned this week after requesting data broken down by ZIP code.

It includes information about the outcomes of inspections the task force has conducted at 14 locations in the Bronx – comprising the city’s primary means of enforcement to date.

Inspectors have seized 9.7 pounds of edibles, 11.4 pounds of cannabis flower, 298 pre-rolled joints, and 395 cartridges of cannabis concentrate from vendors in the Bronx, according to the data.

The inspections also resulted in 41 civil or criminal summons. Civil violations for sale of contraband products will ultimately be adjudicated through the city’s administrative court.

The inspected Bronx locations are distributed across 11 ZIP codes. The sheriff’s task force has yet to conduct any inspections in 10463 or 10471, Kingsbridge and Riverdale, respectively.

The data also indicate an uneven distribution of inspections across the boroughs, with a lower concentration in the Bronx compared to citywide data. The Press got a glimpse at the larger picture in a Feb. 2 Sheriff’s task force report city Councilwoman Gale Brewer’s office provided.

Those figures indicate 107 total smoke shops inspections have so far taken place across the city.

The feebleness of the enforcement may have a lot to do with the vacancies at the city sheriff’s office, Councilwoman Marjorie Velázquez told The Press.

“There’s unfortunately a limitation on inspections when so many of our agencies are understaffed,” Velázquez said. “Short-staffed agencies can’t have a quick turnaround. With this large number of store locations, there’s just going to be a backlog.

Velázquez is especially focused on educating consumers about the city’s current ubiquitous unregulated cannabis market.

Three cannabis dispensaries licensed by the state office of cannabis management have opened in lower Manhattan to date, plus one in Binghamton.

“If you’re in the Bronx and you see a store that’s selling cannabis, guess what, it’s not legal,” Velázquez said.

Commuters stepping off the No. 1 train at West 231st Street immediately encounter the seven-pointed leaf that hovers over Pure Leaf at 5565 Broadway, a pioneer in the sort of bold signage that is now commonplace.

Tucked around the corner is Delicious, a former juice bar at 206 W. 231st St. that didn’t bother changing its name when it cleared its shelves this year and restocked them with cannabis products instead.

Heading north on Broadway, you’ll soon hit Game Over! offering hookah and glassware in a Nintendo-inspired setting at 5591 Broadway, the former martial arts studio of Usk Tae Kwon Do. It welcomed its first customers last week just a few days after The Pot Shop opened its doors on the same block at 5625 Broadway, a minimalist black-and-white-and-green storefront with a spartan display of merchandise in the window.

An employee inside named Keith said it’s the third location of The Pot Shop to open in New York City. Its flagship store opened last June at 909 Manhattan Ave. in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, followed by The Pot Shop Bayside at 45-62 Bell Blvd. in Queens.

It’s a members-only store, Keith explained, but he also said they had a good deal on pre-rolls that did not involve membership. He claimed he didn’t know who the owner was.

As these unlicensed shops continue to open up and do business, the state’s new Office of Cannibis Management is in the middle of a painstaking licensing process throughout the state. Many shops have chosen the legal avenue to cannibis shops, but the process is quite slow. That is causing an imbalance in the marketplace for the few licensed shops that have been lucky to open so far.