UWS Landlord Sues Illegal Smoke Shop For $75K After Raid: Lawsuit

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A landlord is suing a smoke shop in their Upper West Side building for $75,000 after they were fined under a new city effort to shut down the surging illegal cannabis market.

In addition to damages, the landlord is asking for the court to issue a restraining order to prevent the shop from selling any illegal smokable products, the suit states.

The store, Convenience on Columbus, located at Columbus Avenue and West 87th Street, was raided by New York City Sheriff's office on Jan. 5 and received several summonses for selling cannabis products and untaxed cigarettes without a license for either, according to court documents.

Sheriffs found nearly 3,000 illegal cigarettes inside the store, according to the summons, plus packages of flavored tobacco products and cannabis.

"I sell the cigarettes for $11 per pack," the clerk told a detective, the summons reads.

In total, the Sheriff's office issued two class C summons and seven notices of violation in total based on the raid, with a fine of around $10,000.

The suit is seeking $25,000 in damages to pay the fines and to remove the violations, plus another $50,000 in damages for expenses and attorney fees.

Patch was unable to contact the store for comment.. A message was left with the landlord's attorney but they did not respond.

The legal action is in response to the city's attempt to root out the huge influx of illegal cannabis shops.

In November, the city announced they would start sending a form letter from the sheriff's office warning landlords of building home to illegal smoke shops that they will face fines, including up to three times rent being charged, and their tenants could be forcibly evicted if legal action was not taken by the landlord.

The landlord crackdown is only the latest high-profile effort to snuff out the hundreds or more unlicensed pot shops that have exploded across New York City since recreational marijuana was legalized.

The state's slow actions in setting up official cannabis licenses since legalization in 2021 allowed a constellation of unlicensed pot shops to spring up in the meantime — a development that officials argue threatens the legal cannabis industry.

Matt Troutman contributed reporting.