The NYPD tows marijuana trucks from Times Square as marijuana merchants pay $200K in parking charges

The marijuana truck industry in Times Square is going up in flames as a result of local government weed whackers.

The NYPD seized 19 brightly colored trucks and buses found selling cannabis-laced edibles without proper permits at the Crossroads of the World on Tuesday — just a day after Weed World, Times Square’s largest edible provider, paid off more than $200,000 in parking fines that resulted in the removal of a dozen of its trucks from the streets.

The NYPD raid on Times Square left the area without a cannabis truck, according to Tom Harris, president and CEO of the Times Square Alliance.

Harris stated that there was more than a dozen of the trucks parked around Times Square between W. 41st St. and W. 51st Sts. and Sixth and Eighth Aves.

In April, a Weed World truck was parked on Broadway between W. 50th and W. 51st <a href=

streets in Manhattan. (New York Daily News/Shawn Inglima)” class=”wp-image-317 size-full” /> An April Weed World van was found parked at Broadway’s W. 50th and W.51st streets in Manhattan. (New York Daily News/Shawn Inglima)

According to police, the trucks lacked Health Department vendor licenses to offer food, including cannabis-infused candies and other delicacies. According to an NYPD officer, if an ice-cream truck didn’t have a food seller license, it would be treated the same.

Sources say that nearly all the trucks have plates with out-of state license plates. According to the source, the drivers often slept in their trucks at nights, so the vehicles rarely moved from their locations.

Administrative summonses were issued to the truck drivers, requiring them to appear before a court and possibly pay a fine before their vehicles could recover. The source claims that the owners of the vehicles received so many parking summonses that it could take them months to complete the process and have their vehicles returned.

Jeffrey Maddrey (NYPD Chief of Patrol) announced the seizures via Twitter. “If anyone wants to buy illegal marijuana from the WeedWorld Bus on 5th Avenue, 40th Street, it’s no longer open for business,” he said. “We don’t believe it will be open for business soon!”

Maddrey also shared a video in which NYPD Deputy Chief John Chell claimed that the seizures were in response to Times Square Business Improvement District concerns about “illegal food vending trucks.”

Chell, standing in front of a vehicle that had been confiscated, explained that “it’s a cannabis van selling illicit delicacies.”

Weed World claimed Monday that it had paid $200,000 of $500,000 in parking fines collected in Times Square. The city’s Department of Finance had agreed to an installment agreement to pay the rest.

The municipal sheriff’s Office took away 12 Weed World trucks for the most violations in June. They refused to release them until the fines had been paid.

It was unclear whether Weed World owned all of the vehicles confiscated on Tuesday.

The crackdown follows a Daily News report on the rise of pot truck salespeople and pot sellers. Critics claim that Times Square has become an open-air drug bazaar.

“We’d like to thank the New York Daily News for bringing this issue to light, as well as the New York City Police Department for listening to community concerns and taking clear and decisive action,” Harris added.

The state has yet to issue licenses for selling cannabis-laced products. This is why none of the pot truck in Times Square has them.

In June, a Weed World cart was spotted on Eighth Avenue and West 41st Street in Midtown

In June, a Weed World cart was spotted on Eighth Avenue and West 41st Street in Midtown

The citations were issued by “independent contract drivers who neglected to take responsibility for their offenses throughout the epidemic,” according to Weed World owner Bilal Muhammad.

“[They] He explained that they were fired from Weed World.

According to the firm, they sell nonpsychoactive cannabis, which is cannabis products that are free from THC, the psychoactive component.

Muhammad stated that the firm is being lumped with other up-and-coming sellers who sell genuine products. “We have never had.”

A Weed World truck located at 51st St. and Broadway in Manhattan, New York, on Thursday, April 28, 2022

The Weed World truck was located at Broadway and 51st Street in Manhattan, New York on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

The News visited Times Square in April to see Weed World truck owners selling cannabis-laced goods and joints.

Weed World also has a physical location nearby, just up Seventh Avenue from the M&Ms Store. Mohammed said that his establishment will be “the city’s premier dispensary” once New York starts issuing permits.

In March 2021 Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York signed legislation to decriminalize recreational marijuana for adults. Until the state establishes laws, norms and licenses dispensaries, marijuana sales in large quantities will remain illegal.

Gary Payton cookies selling for $60 in a Weed World truck parked on Broadway in between W. 50th and W. 51st streets in April

Gary Payton cookies sold for $60 at a Weed World van parked on Broadway in April between W. 50th & W. 51st streets.

The state’s legalization before the establishment of laws created a gray area where cannabis vendors tried to dodge the law by selling small amounts of marijuana or trading it for donations. In the city, pot trucks have been popping up everywhere in the past few months.

A bill is currently being developed to prohibit gray-zone vendors getting licenses. Senator Liz Krueger, a Democratic senator from Manhattan, introduced legislation in Albany to improve state oversight of marijuana-selling vehicles and storefronts. The Senate approved the bill in June. It is currently awaiting action from the Assembly.

Minority neighborhoods will receive their licenses first when the state creates marijuana sales legislation. This could occur before the end of the calendar year.



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