Mayor Walsh Announces Shutdown of Five Illegal Cannabis Stores

Published on September 26, 2023

Closure by Syracuse Code Enforcement follows New York State seizure of illicit cannabis products at locations on the north side, downtown and Marshall Street

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the City’s Division of Code Enforcement closed five smoke shops where New York State investigators seized adult use cannabis products without proper state licensing. The locations shut down are New York Exotic Smoke Shop at 123 Marshall Street; Escape Exotic Corporation at 167 Marshall Street, Northside Express LLC at 400 Wolf Street, Smoke City 420 LLC at 1105 N. Salina Street, and T’s Wireless at 401 S. Salina Street.

Investigators from the State Department of Taxation and Finance and the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) completed inspections and seizures at the five locations during the past eight weeks. The stores face state violations for possession or sale of various amounts and types of cannabis products, including flowers, edibles, concentrate and pre-rolls without a license.

“These stores posed a risk to public health and safety. They were flagrantly ignoring the State’s requirement to be licensed to sell adult use cannabis products.  Without following the licensure process there is no way to know if the products at their stores were safe for human consumption,” said Mayor Walsh. “This should be a message to other stores operating illegally: it won’t be tolerated. I thank Governor Hochul, the Department of Taxation and Finance and OCM for their cooperation.”

"We are grateful for the partnership of the Syracuse Police Department in this effort to close these unlicensed cannabis shops and protect New York's licensed cannabis market,” said Chris Alexander, Executive Director of the New York State Office of Cannabis Management. “We look forward to continuing to work together with our partners in law enforcement to protect public health and safety."

City Code Enforcement officials closed and boarded up the Marshall Street locations on Thursday and the north side and downtown sites on Monday. They were issued unfit declarations for operating unlicensed retail locations under the New York State Property Maintenance Code.