Mayor Adams says the city is going to continue shutting down suspected illicit smoke shops — despite a Queens judge’s Tuesday ruling that found the recently enacted law allowing the city to shutter over a thousand shops is unconstitutional.
The judge’s decision determined the state law allowing the sheriff’s office to padlock smoke shops after a raid violates shop owners’ rights to due process.
“That’s what I’m saying,” Adams said Thursday. “We’re still closing smoke shops.”
The city’s “Operation Padlock to Protect” was given the green light by Gov. Hochul earlier this year. The law gave the city the power to padlock stores after just one inspection. Since then, the initiative has shuttered over 1,2000 shops and confiscated over $82 million of illegal products, according to a spokesperson for the mayor.
“That’s what he was talking about, an aspect where the sheriff is able to overturn whatever happened inside OATH (Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings),” Adams said of the judge. “That’s the aspect of it. We’re still closing smoke shops.”
The shops can appeal to reopen with administrative hearings, but the final decision on whether a shop can stay open or close for a year falls on the sheriff’s office.
“This decision should not be interpreted to condone such unlicensed activity,” Judge Kevin Kerrigan wrote in his decision. “However, summarily shuttering a business for one year, despite the fact that it was exonerated from allegations of illegal activity, stands against the cornerstone of American democracy and procedural due process.”
On Thursday, Adams said since the judge was talking about one part of the process, it won’t undermine the city’s overall efforts.
Attorney Lance Lazzaro, who represents Cloud Corner, the shuttered shop in Queens that’s now allowed to reopen.
“He may say that, but the problem with his little theory is that the judge has ruled the statute itself is unconstitutional because it violates the due process,” attorney Lance Lazzaro, who represents Cloud Corner — a shuttered shop in Queens that’s now allowed to reopen — said of Adams. He added if the appellate court upholds Kerrigan’s ruling, the decision could also lead to the overturning of the padlock law.
Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for the mayor, said the city’s Law Department has filed a notice of appeal on the case.
“Illegal smoke shops and their dangerous products endanger young New Yorkers and our quality of life, and we continue to padlock illicit storefronts and protect communities from the health and safety dangers posed by illegal operators,” she said.