Times Square’s marijuana truck business is going up in smoke thanks to city 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 led to a dozen of its trucks being pulled from the streets.
New Yorkers have spoken, our Business Districts have spoken. My Community Response Team (CRT) is currently engaging these illegal cannabis trucks who are selling consumable items in New York City without a license from the NYC Department of Health.Stay off of our streets!! pic.twitter.com/Sq2SudxpWS
— Chief Jeffrey Maddrey (@NYPDChiefPatrol) August 16, 2022
The NYPD’s raid left Times Square weed truck-free on Wednesday, said Tom Harris, the president of the Times Square Alliance.
Before the NYPD removed the trucks, on any day more than a half-dozen of them parked in the blocks including Times Square, between W. 41st and W. 51st Sts. and Sixth and Eighth Aves, Harris said.
Police said the trucks lacked Health Department vendor permits to sell food — including the gummies and other edibles infused with cannabis. An NYPD official said the same treatment would be given to an ice cream truck if it didn’t have a food vendors license.
Nearly all of the trucks have out of state plates, said a police source. The drivers often slept in their trucks at night, so the trucks rarely moved from their spots, the source said.
The trucks’ drivers were given administrative summonses, requiring them to attend a hearing and likely pay a fine before their trucks are returned. The trucks have so many parking summonses, it cold take the owners months to complete the process and have them returned, the source said.
NYPD Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey tweeted about the seizures. “If you are looking to buy illegal cannabis from the Weed World Bus located on 5th Avenue & 40th street it is no longer open for business,” he wrote. “We do not anticipate it opening for business anytime soon!”
