NYC shutters boastful Sweetooth pot bakeries taking advantage of tax laws

 These illegal weed bakeries won’t be making any more dough!

The city this week shuttered a trio of Sweetooth pot bake shops whose co-owner previously boasted to The Post that he was taking advantage of lax laws in “liberal” New York City.

On Monday, a multi-agency task force led by the city Sheriff’s office raided the Sweetooth at 1662 First Avenue on the Upper East Side.

Three days later the spots on West 4th Street in Greenwich Village and East 10th Street in the East Village were shuttered, officials said.

During Monday’s bust, the raiders seized 282 THC vapes, 487 pre-rolls, 825 packages of THC edibles, and “various” cannabis-infused baked goods and drinks, the mayor’s office said.

An unidentified owner was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis, a misdemeanor, said the mayoral spokesperson Kayla Mamelak.

Authorities raided the West 4th Street Sweetooth and seized 1,052 edibles, 303 THC vapes, and 97 pre-rolls and slapped the business with a $13,500 fine, officials said.

© Susan May Tell. All Rights Reserved.

Sweetooth’s Yorkville location on the Upper East Side was raided on Monday. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued cease-and-desist orders. 

J.C. Rice

In Thursday’s busts, the “operators” of the Village locales were arrested and charged with possession of cannabis, she said.

“Mayor Adams has been clear: We will not let the economic opportunities that legal cannabis offers be taken for a ride by unlicensed establishments,” Mamelak told The Post.

“No illegal business operation will be tolerated — especially those that are threatening the health and safety of our communities — and we will not hesitate to take all necessary enforcement action against any other storefronts behaving in a similar manner.”

The East Village Sweetooth — the first “infused” pot bake shop in the city — opened in October.

The city Sheriff’s office led the multi-agency task force in the raids, including the West 4th Street location.

© Susan May Tell. All Rights Reserved.

“Mayor Adams has been clear: We will not let the economic opportunities that legal cannabis offers be taken for a ride by unlicensed establishments,” a City Hall spokesperson told The Post.

Helayne Seidman

During Monday’s Upper East Side bust, the raiders seized 282 THC vapes, 487 pre-rolls, 825 packages of THC edibles, and “various” cannabis-infused baked goods and drinks.

Helayne Seidman

“If it wasn’t legal we’d be in handcuffs, no?” Sweetooth “co-owner” Vincent Gasparre told The Post two weeks ago.

Since November, the interagency task force has conducted more than 260 inspections of shops illegally selling products, issued nearly 586 violations resulting in nearly $6 million in fines, and seized more than $14 million in illicit products, Mamelak said.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/20/nyc-shutters-sweetooth-pot-marijuana-bakeries/