The Lawsuit, The Crooked Landlord & The Bizarre Confusion Among NY Cannabis Officials: Harlem Officials Step In

Harlem business leaders lashed out at Gov. Kathy Hochul and state cannabis regulators last December when they proposed the opening of a cannabis shop on West 125th Street, across the street from the famous Apollo Theater. Now, they’re taking the Governor to court. 

What happened: Following the December announcement to open a weed shop on the block, the 125th Street Business Improvement District (BID) promptly launched a change.org petition in a bid to stop the state-licensed weed shop from setting up in the bustling commercial district, arguing that it will worsen the quality of life for merchants and residents and add to crime, congestion and open drug use already going on in the area. It also noted that the announcement was made without community outreach.

And there's a twist...

The Lawsuit, A Crooked Landlord And The Bizarre Confusion Among State Officials 

Filed Wednesday by the 125th Street Business District Management Association in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, the lawsuit seeks to cancel the state’s lease on a storefront at 248 West 125th Street, marking the first such case challenging the secretive process cannabis regulators use to choose dispensary locations.

The lawsuit points out that the landlord of the state's proposed site happens to be renting out space to an unlicensed dispensary several blocks away, which was the scene of a murder on Easter Sunday and several prior shootings. Why would the state offer a license to the landlord of a shop illegally selling cannabis, you ask?  

Oops!

The NY Times noted that state cannabis regulators seemed not to know about the landlord’s ties to the unlicensed dispensary, which is odd because it was one of the 400 businesses singled out by Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's 'laser-focused' February crackdown on illegal weed shops.  

Meanwhile, as the BID's petition urging Gov. Hochul to reconsider not necessarily Harlem itself, but specifically 125 Street and shady landlords did not seem to do the trick, the lawsuit is moving forward. 

Photo courtesy of Apollo Theater walking tour