Tag: new york

New York Local Governments Could Shut Down Unlicensed Marijuana Businesses Under New ‘SMOKEOUT Act’ Bill

As New York works to significantly expand the state’s regulated marijuana market, a new bill would empower individual municipal governments to shut down unlicensed cannabis businesses and seize their products.

The legislation from Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar (D) aims to address the proliferation of illegal operators that have emerged throughout the state amid the protracted rollout of New York’s legalization law.

Currently, state regulators with the Cannabis Control Board (CCB) hold enforcement authority to close unlicensed businesses. The newly filed Stop Marijuana Over-proliferation and Keep Empty Operators of Unlicensed Transactions (SMOKEOUT) Act would expand that authority to local governments by giving municipal officials the power to “order the immediate closure of any business” found to be illegally marijuana and to seize its merchandise.

“The lack of authority for municipalities to interdict unlawful retailers, combined with limited resources from the Board, has resulted in the proliferation of so-called ‘smoke shops’ openly selling illegal, unregulated cannabis and other contraband with near total impunity,” a justification memo attached to the bill says.

“The vast amount of contraband and loose cash in these smoke shops have made them tantalizing targets for robberies and hotbeds of crime. This has put communities, shop employees, and their customers in extreme danger,” it says. “These shops are also unfair competition to licensed dispensaries, who cannot afford to sell their rigorously tested and regulated cannabis at the prices smoke shops offer.”

The bill’s introduction comes as New York regulators move to process hundreds of marijuana business license applications. Over a dozen new cannabis retailers opened in December alone following a settlement agreement lifting an injunction that had imposed a months-long licensing blockade.

“Our top priority is to grow and expand New York’s legal cannabis industry while cracking down on the illicit storefronts that continue to plague communities,” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) had said at the time.

Keep reading

Retired NYPD captain shoots man in leg during New Year’s Eve road rage feud: sources

A recently retired NYPD captain shot another man in the leg during a road rage feud in Brooklyn on New Year’s Eve, police sources said. 

The retiree, who was driving a Toyota Corolla, clashed with a 22-year-old man behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz on Coney Island Avenue near Brighton Beach Avenue around 2:15 p.m., the sources said. 

Both drivers got out of their vehicles and started to argue, according to the sources. 

The confrontation took a violent turn when the former cop fired off a gun, hitting the other motorist in the left leg, the sources said. 

The wounded man was taken to NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, where he was listed in stable condition, police said. 

The retired captain was taken to the same hospital, and it remained unclear Monday whether he would face charges. 

Keep reading

Teen tourists stabbed by deranged stranger at Grand Central who shouted ‘I want all the white people dead’ on Christmas: police

A troubled vagrant randomly stabbed two teenage girls enjoying a Christmas morning meal with their parents at a Grand Central Terminal restaurant — after ranting that he wanted “all white people dead,” authorities said.

The girls, 14- and 16-year-olds visiting from South America, were attacked at Tartinery in the Grand Central Dining Concourse around 11:25 a.m. Monday and suffered non-life-threatening stab wounds, police and sources said. 

“I want all the white people dead,” the suspect, Steven Hutcherson, 36, allegedly yelled, according to police sources. “I want to sit next to the crackers.”

He then allegedly lunged at the unsuspecting teens, plunging a knife into the 16-year-old’s back, nicking her lungs, and stabbing the younger girl in the thigh, police and a law enforcement source said.

Hutcherson — who cops and sources said has a slew of prior arrests and a history of mental health issues — had allegedly popped up at the restaurant and said he wanted a table but wasn’t going to order anything, staffers told The Post.

Keep reading

New York lawmakers introduce bill to force Chick-Fil-A restaurants along highway to stay open on Sundays

Yes, New York apparently cares more about travelers and their munchies than they do about religious freedom — or freedom at all, for that matter. Chick-Fil-A closes on the Lord’s Day to give employees a holy day of rest, but it looks like they could be faced with a big-time decision in their New York State rest stop locations — whether to stay and remain open on Sunday, or to simply move out.

It’s the holiday season, meaning thousands of drivers will be on the road, and now a group of New York State Assembly officials want to ensure all travelers can access all restaurants…seven days a week. News10 spoke with one of the sponsors of the Rest Stop Restaurant Act, Assemblyman Tony Simone …

The bill will require companies contracted to provide food and beverage services along the Thruway and at the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey to remain open seven days a week.

That means Chick-Fil-A, in locations at rest stops along this highway system, would be forced to stay open on Sundays.

Keep reading

Twins, 5, found dead in NYC apartment were foaming at the mouth and nose and had been sent home sick from school with ‘intense and strange symptoms’

The five-year-old twins found dead by their mother at their home in the Bronx this week were foaming at the mouth and nose and had been sent home sick from school after being ‘violently’ sick and displaying ‘strange symptoms’, the NYPD has revealed. 

The siblings, a boy and a girl, were discovered by their mother on the floor of their home on Monday morning. They have not yet been named publicly. 

Their deaths continue to mystify police, who say there is no sign of foul play. The apartment was well heated with ample food for the children. 

In the weeks before his death, the boy exhibited cold symptoms for about two weeks, including a runny nose and vomiting. 

His sister had an ear infection, was vomiting and acting irrationally, including biting and spitting. 

Despite adequate heat in the apartment, both children were cold to touch when their mother found them dead on Monday. 

The children’s father is a home health attendant who had urged his wife to take them to the emergency room. 

She last saw them alive at 5am and planned to take them to the hospital when they woke up but found them lifeless at 11am. 

The medical examiner’s office also told officials there is no evidence of strangulation, bruising or any other injuries on their bodies.

No drugs or such paraphernalia were found in the home. 

Keep reading

NY County Announces Travel Bans For ‘Catastrophes’, Introduces ‘Movement Passes’ For ‘Essential Workers’

A New York county announced the launch of a travel ban initiative where “essential workers” can apply for an exemption in the event of a state of emergency or other “catastrophe.”

Erie County officials claimed exemptions from their new online portal will be used by employers during winter storms and other emergencies when a driving ban has been declared.

“The travel exemption portal will define specific categories of workers using a tiered concept to identify who would be exempt from a travel ban in order to commute to and from their place of employment,” the news release said.

“The list of essential employees will be reviewed annually and employers will be asked to provide updates when an essential employee’s work status changes for any reason that warrants removal from the exemption list.”

Keep reading

New York Bill Would Create Psilocybin Therapy Pilot Program For 10,000 Military Veterans And First Responders

A New York lawmaker has introduced a bill that would create a pilot program to provide psilocybin therapy to 10,000 people, focusing on military veterans and first responders, while the legislature also considers broader psychedelics reform.

Assemblymember Pat Burke (D), who has championed various psychedelics measures over recent sessions, filed the therapeutic psilocybin pilot program legislation on Wednesday.

It would create the program under the state Department of Health, which would be required to provide funding to cover the therapy and develop training guidelines for professional facilitators. It would need to issue a report on findings and policy recommendations to the governor and legislature every two years after enactment.

A total of 10,000 patients could participate, including veterans and their families, first responders and people who suffer from cluster headaches. They would need to reside in the western region of New York.

The pilot program would end if psilocybin is approved for medical use by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Psilocybin therapy offers serious potential benefits to assist with mental health, but it suffers from a lack of substantial medical testing,” a memo attached to the measure says. “This bill would alleviate that problem by establishing a pilot program to test psilocybin therapy’s effectiveness on mental health.”

“This pilot program would help record the effects of this treatment on their conditions in order to better understand the effects of this new therapy which promises substantial benefits,” it says.

Under the legislation, the health department would be able to enter into agreements with experts, non-profit organizations, universities or other institutions “for the performance of an evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness” of the program.

Keep reading

2nd Circuit Rejects New York’s Default Rule Against Guns in Businesses

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit recently upheld New York’s requirement that applicants for handgun carry permits demonstrate “good moral character,” deeming it consistent with the Second Amendment. But the appeals court enjoined enforcement of the state’s demand that applicants submit information about their social media accounts, deeming it inconsistent with the First Amendment as well as the Second.

The 2nd Circuit also delivered a mixed verdict on New York regulations that prohibit even permit holders from carrying guns in specified locations. The court rejected the state’s default rule against carrying guns in businesses open to the public while upholding several other bans on firearms in places that legislators deemed “sensitive.”

The decision by a unanimous three-judge panel, published on Friday, addresses four challenges to regulations that New York enacted after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which upheld the right to carry guns in public for self-defense. In Bruen, the Court rejected New York’s requirement that residents show “proper cause” for bearing arms, which it said was not “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

New York legislators responded by eliminating the “proper cause” criterion while retaining a reference to “good moral character,” which they defined as “the essential
character, temperament and judgement necessary to be entrusted with a weapon
and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger oneself or others.” That requirement, U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby concluded last year in Antonyuk v. Hochul, “is just a dressed-up version of the State’s improper ‘special need for self-protection’ requirement.”

Suddaby found “historical support for a modern law providing that a license shall be issued or renewed except for applicants who have been found, based on their
past conduct, to be likely to use the weapon in a manner that would injure themselves or others (other than in self-defense).” That standard, he wrote, “is objective, easily applied, and finds support in numerous analogues that deny the right to carry to citizens based on their past conduct.” By contrast, he said, New York’s “good moral character” requirement gave licensing officials “open-ended discretion” to reject applicants based on a subjective standard—precisely the situation that the Supreme Court had deemed unconstitutional in Bruen.

Keep reading

New York Governor Vetoes Bills To Allow Hemp Seed In Animal Feed, Calling On State To Collect ‘More Information’ On Safety

The governor of New York has vetoed a pair of bills that would have allowed hemp seeds to be included in animal feed for pets, horses and camelids such as llamas and alpacas—citing a lack of information about the safety of such uses, which she wants the state to study in an “expeditious manner.”

The Senate and Assembly passed the legislation months ago, but the bills were only formally transmitted to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) late last month. While she’s strongly advocated for the state’s hemp industry, the governor said in a veto message on Friday that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved adding hemp seed to animal feed, and so “more information is required.”

“To that end, I am directing the Department of Agriculture and Markets to work with Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to research the impacts of the use of hemp seed or hemp seed products in animal feed,” Hochul wrote. “This study is to be completed in an expeditious manner to better inform the industry on the questions raised by the potential for expanded use of hemp products.”

The now-vetoed measures specified that the industrial hemp seed that could be added to certain animal feed included seed hulls and seed meal. Supporters said that the cannabis products could be a nutritious additive that’s high in protein and fiber.

The legislation was similar to measures that have been enacted in Montana and Pennsylvania, and it’s backed by the National Hemp Association.

“Protecting industrial hemp production in New York will encourage greater production and research into the myriad uses of this plant, including as a renewable building material,” the text says. “It will also open the door for small, New York-based animal food processors to establish this marketplace before hemp seeds are authorized far use in commercial feed nationally.”

A fiscal note says that the legislation could ultimately increase tax revenue for the state because of “increased sales of New York hemp seed product and commercial feed.”

The bills would not have extended the hemp seed additive authorization to other commercial livestock, presumably due to regulatory complications related to adding items to feed for animals that are used for human consumption.

That said, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently found that cows that are fed hempseed cake retain very low concentrations of THC and CBD in their bodies, indicating that meat products from hemp-fed cattle are safe for human consumption.

Keep reading

New York Will Charge Drivers $15 To Enter Lower Manhattan

After a grueling, yearslong, process, New York area commuters finally know how much in new congestion charges they’ll pay for driving into lower Manhattan. Actually getting the published tolls approved is going to require more process still.

Earlier this week, the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)—the state agency that runs rail and bus service in the New York City area—gave initial approval to a toll schedule that will charge the average driver $15 to enter lower Manhattan during peak times (5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends).

Trucks, buses, and vans will pay $24 per day for the same privilege, while larger vehicles like multiunit trucks and sightseeing buses will pay $36 per day. Included in the schedule are discounts for low-income drivers and credits for people using already-tolled tunnels.

Vehicles without an E-ZPass will pay higher rates, ranging from $22.50 for passenger cars to $54 for larger trucks.

The revenue from these congestion tolls will go toward covering the MTA’s budget deficits.

The board’s vote this week merely kicks off an additional round of public input and review scheduled to last four months, during which more changes could be made. This latest stage of public review is in addition to the 19 outreach sessions the MTA held during the yearslong federal environmental review process. The agency has already received 28,000 pages worth of public comments as well.

So, congestion tolls won’t be implemented until spring 2024 at the earliest.

New York’s long road to congestion pricing started back in 2019 when the New York Legislature approved a plan to toll drivers entering lower Manhattan as part of that year’s budget agreement.

The intent of the new tolls was to raise money for the city’s cash-strapped subway system and reduce rush-hour gridlock. London, Singapore, and Stockholm all have tolled congestion zones covering their city centers.

Economics and transportation policy wonks tend to love congestion pricing as an efficient means of rationing scarce road space. Done right, it can be a real benefit to commuters who benefit from more predictable travel times and free-flowing traffic.

From the get-go, however, New York primarily pitched its congestion pricing plan as a means of raising money for the city’s subway system. That helped alienate drivers who’d have to pay it.

“They didn’t lead with, ‘We’re going to stabilize traffic flow and therefore benefit you as motorists,'” Marc Scribner, a transportation policy researcher at the Reason Foundation (which publishes this website), told Reason earlier this year. “You can understand the knee-jerk reaction from a lot of motorists is that this is a cash grab.”

The political opposition from motorists has only complicated what was always going to be a fraught, prolonged implementation process.

Keep reading