NYPD says Housing Works Cannabis Company security is subpar
Brooklyn NY Jan 22 2023
The state’s first legal recreational pot shop has not locked in its security measures, a top NYPD official said, calling its operator “unprofessional.”
Deputy Inspector Ralph Clement, commanding officer of the 9th Precinct in Greenwich Village, said the Housing Works Cannabis Co. on Broadway, did not meet all protocols and mandates.
Clement noted that the store did not have armed security guards to watch over its inventory of gummies, joints and loose “flower.”
He wouldn’t elaborate further at the precinct’s public Community Council meeting Tuesday.
The state Office of Cannabis Management’s regulations for legally selling weed detail numerous security safeguards at weed shops including alarms, video camera and safe cash storage. The state allows licensed weed shops to hire armed guards, but does not require it.
Housing Works said in documents filed with the local community board that it would have at least three security guards on site at all times. A guard could be seen standing in the entrance of the shop on Broadway at East Eighth Street this week and the store appeared to have an alarm system and video cameras.
Clement said Housing Works had not reached out to the precinct to discuss anything about its operation and called the group “unprofessional.”
Housing Works, a sprawling organization serving mostly those with HIV and AIDS, secured a state license in November to open a weed shop, a move the nonprofit said would allow it to increase its revenue. But the licensing drew scorn because Housing Works provides substance abuse treatment to its clients.
On Tuesday, Housing Works Cannabis Co., the separate LLC created to run the shop, was sued in US District Court in Brooklyn by a woman who said its website violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rasheta Bunting, who is legally blind, contended in the action that Housing Works failed to design and operate the site “to be fully accessible and independently usable” by her and other blind or visually-impaired people.
Housing Works did not immediately return a request for comment.
