Hundreds of apparent illegal pot shops shuttered as part of Mayor Eric Adams’ high-profile crackdown could be at risk of reopening — thanks to a new ruling that found the city is skipping out on part of the legal process.
The decision by Queens Supreme Court Justice Kevin Kerrigan allowing a Queens convenience store to reopen could unravel the city’s entire swaggering effort, dubbed Operation Padlock to Protect, the attorney repping the shop said.
“Almost every store has a right to be reopened,” said Lance Lazzaro, the lawyer for Bell Grocery & Deli in Bayside, dubbing the process for closing the shops a “kangaroo court.”
Lazzaro’s client was served by the City Sheriff’s Office with a summons alleging that the store was selling illicit cannabis after officials claimed they found seven pounds of cannabis product inside in June and padlocked it.
An administrative court, however, dismissed the summons, because it was improperly served.
But the sheriff was allowed to make the final call to keep the shop closed — something Kerrigan ruled deprived the storeowners of their due process rights.
“The Court acknowledges that the unlicensed sale of cannabis within the City of New York represents an enormous public health concern,” the judge wrote. “However, summarily shuttering businesses prior to taking the necessary steps to determine whether a violation has occurred stands against the cornerstone of American democracy and procedural due process.”
The scathing ruling adds: “If the Sheriff elects to continue the sealing order absent a finding of any unlicensed activity, the individual is deprived of due process under the law.”
The “significant” ruling effectively called the administrative court hearings held after a store is shuttered due to Operation Padlock “almost a farce, because the sheriff can do whatever the hell he wants,” Lazzaro told The Post on Friday.
“Who the hell made the sheriff the judge and jury?” Lazzaro said. “It’s almost a complete denial of due process where the sheriff has the ultimate authority — despite what happens at the hearing, they can still reject it.”
The Wednesday ruling, which the city is appealing, orders the Bell Boulevard convenience shop to reopen immediately.
Nearly 950 shops have been issued summonses from the sheriff’s office, according to the New York Times, which first wrote about the ruling, and almost 140 of them have been dismissed.
According to the Adams administration, over 900 shops have been shuttered through Operation Padlock, with an estimated $60 million of illegal product seized.
“We are confident that we are acting in accordance with the law to protect public safety. We are reviewing the decision and evaluating our options,” said City Hall spokesperson Liz Garcia.
The sheriff’s office did not reply to a request for comment Friday.
Lazzaro, who represents several other shops in similar proceedings as well as in a related federal class action suit, charged that the city’s apparent failure to follow the law by not properly serving their summons to the required person is systemic, not just a one-off error.
“That’s been their blueprint for serving here, and [the city has] been arguing it in every case,” Lazzaro told The Post.
“Regardless of the violation, if you have defective service, then everything else falls,” said attorney M. Daniel Bach, who argues in front of the city’s administrative court, known as OATH, regularly.
Bach also represents a handful of stores shuttered by Operation Padlock, a few of which he’s also been able to un-lock, albeit temporarily.
Although his cases haven’t had the same service defects as in the Queens case, Bach said “if service is improper, then everything else should be dismissed.”
Operation Padlock to Protect began last spring and has mostly been met with acclaim by New Yorkers who decry the rampant illicit pot shops that have sprung up across the city since marijuana sales were legalized in the state.
But just in the last few weeks, critics have started to pick at Operation Padlock, claiming it might not be as locked up as it seems.
City comptroller Brad Lander, who recently launched his bid to challenge Adams in next year’s democratic primary, wrote a letter seeking detailed information about the operation this summer.
And earlier this month, a former Bronx undersheriff filed a federal lawsuit claiming that his 10-year career in the office was ruined after he sounded the alarm that the pot raids could be illegal.
