Op-Ed | Opening doors to opportunity

When we came into office in 2022, illegal smoke shops were popping up all around the city. No matter what community you talked to, no matter what borough you visited, New Yorkers were fed up. Illegal smoke and cannabis shops were cutting the line — hurting hard-earned legal cannabis businesses, selling products that target our most vulnerable populations like children, and contributing to the feeling that anything goes on our streets.

Our administration knew it had to stop. We went to Albany to advocate to get the power to shut these illegal businesses down. And in May 2024, we launched “Operation Padlock to Protect” to weed out the bad actors after being given that authority.

One year later, we have turned the tide. Thanks to our efforts, we have closed nearly 1,400 illegal cannabis shops and removed $95 million in illegal products from our streets. But “Operation Padlock to Protect” is not only about protecting our kids from harmful products and keeping our communities safe. It is about making sure that illegal smoke shops do not take away valuable storefront space from legal businesses trying to do it the right way.

We are beginning to unseal these padlocked storefronts so that they can re-open as legal businesses like pizzerias, barber shops, retail stores, and more. I recently visited one of these stores — Salsa Pizza Napoletana — in Brooklyn. The owner, Mike Bancale, told me, “Everything started probably 16 years ago in Italy where me and my best friend, Antonella, met, then decided to move to the States with almost nothing. Salsa [Pizza Napoletana] is the actual dream that came true.”

This small business embodies the spirit of New York City. It’s a vibrant multi-cultural enterprise, with partners from Italy and Latin America. It creates great jobs for the community and serves great food.

But we’re not only shutting down illegal smoke shops; we’re helping support our city’s legal cannabis industry as well. The legal cannabis industry is a budding economic opportunity for New York City, especially for those disproportionately impacted by the ‘War on Drugs.’ Our administration supports those legal entrepreneurs through our Cannabis NYC Loan Fund, which has disbursed over $500,000 to support early-stage cannabis businesses since October 2024. Soon, we will have distributed $2 million in total. With legal cannabis sales last year topping $350 million and over 160 legal dispensaries currently open across the five boroughs, our city’s legal cannabis industry is off to a promising start.

Every day, our administration works hard to make New York City safer, more affordable, and the best place to raise a family. This includes closing illegal smoke shops, driving down crime for five quarters in a row, creating a record number of small businesses, and improving New Yorkers’ quality of life.

As we approach the one-year mark of “Operation Padlock to Protect” and unseal stores across the city, we will continue to enforce the law and make sure that these storefronts re-open as safe, legal businesses of all kinds for families to shop at and enjoy.