Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Illegal Smoke Shop Selling Weed Across From NYC City Hall
Illegal Smoke Shop Selling Weed Across From NYC City Hall
Metro exclusive
what to shop now
Trending Now
on NYPost.com
198,059
Jungle Boys has been selling illegal cannabis products across the street from City Hall.
J.C. Rice
Columnists
Steve Cuozzo
Nicole Gelinas
See All
Video
Josh Hart: Is he the answer to the
Knicks' Struggles?
Jungle Boys (lower right) operates out of the same building that houses some of Mayor Eric Adams’ staff and various city
agencies.
J.C. Rice
And it shows just how much anything goes nowadays in NYC, said Tom Chzyk, 62, a construction site
administrator.
“There’s a certain irony that City Hall is . . . across the street from it,” he said. “It’s a bizarre wacky place,
and we’ll just tolerate some things.”
Jungle Boys – which is not affiliated to a prosperous cannabis dispensary under the same name legally
operating out of Los Angeles – boasts a wide assortment of marijuana products to smoke and eat as well
as $100 bongs and other stoner favorites.
Edward Nunez Lopez sells weed-infused edibles and other products at Jungle Boys.
J.C. Rice
A city-state task force comprised of city deputy sheriffs, NYPD cops and staffers from other agencies
raided the joint in both December and January, seizing a combined $175,883 in products, officials said.
Jungle Boys also faces yet-to-be-determined fines after being socked with a bevy of criminal and civil
summonses for unlawful possession of cannabis, operating without a license and other wrongdoing,
officials said.
Like most of the other roughly 1,400 illegal cannabis shops operating citywide, Jungle Boys’ operators
were undeterred.
Jungle Boys has had more than $175,000 in products seized in recent raids.
J.C. Rice
It restocked the shelves and re-opened Monday without a hitch two weeks after the Jan. 26 inspection by
the task force — simply chalking it up to the cost of doing business in the high-profit world of weed,
workers said.
City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and NYPD brass testified at a Council hearing last month that existing laws
make it difficult to weed out and close the illicit weed shops, adding they can typically only issue measly
$250 fines – hardly a deterrent even after seizing pot and edibles.
Just two cannabis shops are legally operating in New York City — with a third slated to open Monday in
Manhattan’s Union Square — as a huge unregulated black market sprouted during the state’s slow rollout
of its licensed cannabis program.
The current laws for the retail weed market make it difficult to shut down illicit pot shops long-term.
J.C. Rice
In a bid to fight back, Mayor Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday that
the city would be beefing up its crackdown on the illegal pot stores — by going after the landlords.
The typically soft-on-crime Bragg said his office sent more than 400 letters to property owners of
unlicensed shops putting them on notice to evict tenants selling illegal cannabis — or watch the state do it
for them.
Michael Alcazar, an adjunct criminal justice professor at John Jay College and retired NYPD detective,
said it’s no surprise that the shop opened across from City Hall, considering “the lawlessness plaguing”
New York.
DA Alvin Bragg sent 400 letters to property landlords warning them of potential evictions for tenants who illegally sell
weed.
J.C. RIce
“This is a direct slap in the mayor’s face and state legislators that made this environment friendly for pot
dealers,” he said. “The message is loud and clear: New York City has become the Wild Wild West!”
The 19th century-era, landmarked former Home Life Insurance Company building at 253 Broadway is
now a condominium complex predominantly owned by the city, but the lower level where Jungle Boys is
located is owned by a Mineola, N.Y.-based real estate management company, Malachite Group. The
company declined comment.
The Mayor’s Office declined to address questions about the illegal pot dispensary making plenty of green
so close to City Hall, instead referring to Adams’ comments Tuesday where he promised to bank on
“every level of government to address” the problem of rogue weed shops.
Hazel Crampton-Hays, a spokeswoman for Gov. Hocul, said the state is “using every tool at our disposal
to crack down on unlawful operations and keep New Yorkers safe.”
However, some New Yorkers — including city employees who walk by Jungle Boys regularly — say
current “crackdown” efforts just aren’t working.
“It’s ugly there,” fumed Daniel Suarez, an employee at the city Department of Citywide Administrative
Services. “Especially when tourists come. They are seeing City Hall — and then this!”
Filed under alvin bragg cannabis city council city hall eric adams marijuana
marijuana legalization mayor small business 2/11/23
Read Next Can I get a 'lay'? 'Drunk' woman allegedly asked to lay on...
Sort by Best
1 View 1 new comment
1 Person typing
Billy Kidd
3 hours ago
Reply 22 Share
Big Jake
4 hours ago
Reply 15 Share
LM2
3 hours ago
It's in the same building as his staff, because they're the best customers.
Reply 6 Share
AJ XYZ
3 hours ago
Reply 6 Share
Show 4 more replies
Graniteville
3 hours ago
253 Broadway is also within a few hundred feet of several schools. Coincidence?
Reply 9 Share
Seriously?
2 hours ago
Reply 2 Share
2 replies
Bluzyhound
2 hours ago
The only problem they have with it is they aren’t getting paid. Remuneration of taxes is all they
are about not the health and well being if their constituents. They have commercials of people
emphysema on TV promoting the cessation of smoking at the same time they are
smoking mari... See more
Reply 7 Share
1 reply
GEMforCommonSense
3 hours ago
Here's a solution: Layoff the 6-figure salaried government employees in the NYS Office of
annabis Management (or shut it down), and all NYS & NYC government 6-figure salaried DIE
close the legal weed dispensaries, which are all operated by incompetent, taxpayer-sucking
lobbyist orgs (e....
See more
Reply 12 Share
Punch Top
4 hours ago
Mayor Bojangles too busy getting to the club to get this done
Reply 11 Share
Adam Wolf
2 hours ago
legal weed 50 dollars
illegal weed 20 dollars
see the problem
(same size & quality)
Reply 8 Share
Julyfourth
3 hours ago
If they sold Crack Hunter Biden would be a very frequent customer and maybe sell some of his
there or trade it for top shelf Crack.
Reply 6 Share
1 reply
Baby Boomer
3 hours ago
Politicians want us dumb, high and relying on their petty handouts to survive.
Reply 8 Share
1 reply
CP
2 hours ago
Why is it that bars have the fear of god in them if they open up without a coveted and expensive
license? What a massive failure.
Reply 3 Share
Vazeesh Maharaj
1 hour ago
Dunhill, Nat Sherman, Benson & Hedges gave way to Gummies for Bummies
Reply 2 Share
Nota Bot
3 hours ago
The city turns a blind eye to the street pot dealers for years and goes full on holier than tho
they open a store front.
Reply 4 Share
LM2
3 hours ago
Reply 3 Share
1 reply
Ben David
3 hours ago
Mayor and his staff dont wanna have to go so far to get their 'lunch'.
Reply 3 Share
Grossss
3 hours ago
What's the problem? It's an illegal store, put a freaking lock on the door n a cop out front.
Reply 5 Share
1 reply
Lilly Skywalker
2 hours ago
Reply 4 Share
rose tomas
3 hours ago
NYC needs the fines so let the good times roll
Reply 2 Share
Blackspeare
2 hours ago
Reply 1 Share
jon jon
1 hour ago
Reply 2 Share
DeadPool
3 hours ago
Glad to see that ADAMS is on top of things lol maybe if it was a CELEBRITY Party across from
HALL he would have never MISSED IT !!!!
Reply 1 Share
Assy_McGee
1 hour ago
Adams, the corrupt bishop and the flashy pimp all take weed breaks at the shop.
Reply 3 Share
These places are blatant. There is absolutely no regulation of the products they sell, and while a
ot of it is probably cannabis, there is too much fentanyl floating around and unscrupulous
looking to cut cost by cutting the product
An old story......
Reply Share
Mark
2 hours ago
Reply 2 Share
KYOTE
6 minutes ago
Governments & big money bankers have been in the drug business for decades. You just have
cut them in on the profits to be allowed to participate.
Reply Share
Papa Smurf
1 hour ago
Btw, CL has been selling weed since 2010, and it’s tax free
Reply 1 Share
1 reply
MrFatBear
2 hours ago
For crying out loud, just make it legal! With the same restrictions as alcohol. Stop wasting
time.
Reply Share
1 reply
Jack Ricardo
53 minutes ago
I am more concerned about legal pot shops than illegal ones. Heavy marijuana use causes brain
-- something our already witless society cannot afford.
Reply Share
1 reply
8 People Reacted
25 7 0
More Stories
Page Six NYPost
Machine Gun Kelly gets electrocuted during Super John Cena spotted rocking short skirt, thigh-highs
Bowl performance and heels
Sections & Features Post Sports+ Newsletters & Feeds Help/Support Apps
News Metro Subscribe Email Newsletters About New York Post iPhone App
Sports Sports Betting Articles RSS Feeds Customer Service iPad App
Business Opinion Manage NY Post Official Store App FAQ & Help Android Phone
Entertainment Fashion & Beauty Community Guidelines Android Tablet
Home Delivery
Shopping Lifestyle
Contact Us Advertise
Real Estate Media Subscribe
Tech Health Manage Subscription Tips Self Service
Travel Astrology Newsroom Media Kit
Video Photos Delivery Help Letters to the Editor Contact
Visual Stories Alexa Reprints
Covers Horoscopes Careers
Sports Odds Podcasts Vulnerability Disclosure Program
Columnists Classifieds
© 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved Terms of Use Membership Terms Privacy Notice Sitemap
Your California Privacy Rights