Transcript: Mayor Adams Celebrates Progress Closing Illegal Smoke Shops, Turning Vacant Storefronts Into Legal, Small Businesses

May 14, 2025

Commissioner Dynishal Gross, Small Business Services: Good morning, everyone. I think we're going to kick off this press event. We are marking the one-year anniversary of Operation Padlock to Protect in an incredibly meaningful way. In this beautiful establishment, Salsa Pizza Napoletana, and this beautiful corner was previously a padlocked location and is now a new neighborhood business thanks to the success of this operation and the ambition of this amazing business owner, Mike Bancale, who will address us now. Mike?

Mike Bancale, Co-Owner, Salsa Pizzeria: Good morning, everyone. It's really a pleasure to be able to talk about this. My name is Mike Bancale. I am the co-owner and co-founder of Salsa Pizzeria. It's not only pizza. We try to bring together the Italian food and culture with the Latin American work that we bring in the store. We have a very particular way of doing things. 

Most of the people that I met in my career in the kitchens were from Latin America. My wife is Dominican. My business partners are Italian and Colombian. So we wanted to create a concept that brings together culture, food, and makes everybody happy. 
As I like to say, this is a place for kids, adults, family, date night, solo diner. Everything started probably sixteen years ago in Italy where me and my best friend Antonella met, then decided to move to the States with almost nothing. Salsa is the actual dream that came true. 

We are extremely proud of what we do. We are in the top 50 pizzerias of the United States. If you consider that, there are more than 72,000 pizzerias, being currently number 34 makes us extremely proud, especially being in a city like New York with a lot of challenges. There is always something to be careful [about]. I am extremely honored to talk here and to host this event and to have the mayor of the greatest city in the world today here. Thank you.

Mayor Eric Adams: Congratulations. And we see you have that Brooklyn accent. Amazing story, but just think about that story for a moment. If you were here a year ago, these illegal products would be all over the shelves in the stores. Many of the locations we closed down a year ago when we started the Operation Padlock to Protect. 

The goal was to go out and ensure the hard earned legal cannabis business would not be hurt by those establishments that thought they can jump the line and even skirt the law and sell products that were illegal. And so there's a narrative and there's a story here of a successful communication with Albany to make modifications in the law. 

And we went from illegal items that could be harmful to the community to pizza, good food, good paying jobs and a support system. And when you put all of the pieces together, you see a small business service operation. You see our cannabis operation. You see the almost half a million dollars we put into those startup cannabis. You see the $95 million of illegal cannabis we removed off the streets. 

You see the 1,400 illegal cannabis shops that we were able to close down. You see millions of dollars being placed into our economy, our tax base, and you're seeing people being hired. That is how we were able to successfully have more jobs in this city and the history of the city. In fact, we broke the record 11 times. 

We gave the support. We made sure that illegal operations were removed. We put in place a real business plans to assist these local businesses [and] open individuals that we see opening now. This is what it was about. This was the vision when we looked at the cannabis initiative and how we could put legal cannabis in our streets.

And so Mike and his piece of operation right here in Queens, it is a symbol of why this initiative was so important. My hat really goes off to our commissioner, Commissioner Gross from Small Business Services. She has been going into the crevices of our community and making sure we don't have just one borough. There's a centralization in Manhattan. We have five boroughs in the city and small businesses are opening and operating throughout the entire city. 

One year ago, we started Operation Padlock to Protect. And now a year later, those illegal businesses have an opportunity. Those illegal establishments and locations have an opportunity to reopen as legal businesses, to sell pizza and other products. To make sure that we deliver on the ground to the various communities in our city. 

And we're proud of that fact of closing the illegal shop to open legal shops with legal businesses. The city was fed up. We heard it [at] every town hall. We heard it in every area. We wanted something done by those illegal cannabis shops. It was attracting violence. It was attracting terrible products. It was attracting to the lack of quality of life throughout our city. And we did just that. 

One year later, we're standing in front, standing inside of a location that benefited from this operation. And he didn't have to stand alone. Through SBS, our administration is supporting those entrepreneurs through our Cannabis NYC Loan Fund. And as I stated, almost a half a million dollars went into that fund. 

And we know how important this is as we continue to move forward and open our legal cannabis shops and illegal businesses in this city. And with over 160 legal dispensaries open across the five boroughs and legal sales topping $350 million dollars. $350 million dollars. Good paying jobs, good industry. And for those who are out there, come to Mike's. Get some good pizza when you get the munchies from that good cannabis that you smoke. 

So we are really proud today. This is a signature of what a properly planned, executed position that this administration has taken, the policy that impacted us. And again, to those illegal shops that were closed down. Let's open up those retail spaces. You have an opportunity to do so after the year. 

The sheriff's office will work to unseal stores across the entire city to get them up and operating so that we could have productive businesses in our community. Thank all the partners that are involved. Our cannabis owners, shop owners that are here, our bids, we’re all coming together to make sure that we could have a healthy, productive business community throughout this entire city. Thanks a lot, commissioner. 

Commissioner Gross: Thank you so much, Mayor Adams. And thanks so much also to First Deputy Sheriff Warren Glover, who is here representing the New York City Sheriff's Office, which played a lead role in Operation Padlock to Protect. The mayor mentioned some of the types of stakeholders that are with us today. 

Licensees in the cannabis industry, business leaders and economic development leaders from our business improvement districts. But I have the pleasure now of introducing Tom Grech, who is the president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. Tom is a loyal Mets fan. He is an advocate for small business and economic development in this borough. And he's an amazing partner to SBS in many ways. 

And it's been such a pleasure to just hear over here some of the conversation between Tom and Mike this morning. I know they're going to work together more closely to ensure that this 75-day-old business succeeds and grows to its maximum potential. So, Tom, please take the mic. 

Tom Grech, CEO and President, Queens Chamber of Commerce: Thanks to Mayor Adams. Thanks to Commissioner Gross. The only time we let Mayor Adams in this borough without a Met hat is when the Knicks are on the verge. Same thing goes for my friend Erica Ford. Knicks, we're all New York basketball fans, but the Mets are the ones we have to worry about. 

So, again, my name is Tom Grech. I'm the president and CEO of the Queens Chamber, 115 year old organization, 1,400 members representing 150,000 Queens based employees. I'm also really proud to talk to Mike today and his partner. What a great story of diversity, right? He's from Italy, his friend's from Columbia, married to a Dominican. It's a quintessential Queens and New York City story. 

So I want to give him a hand just for being here and working so hard and all this stuff. Early on, I got to meet Mayor Adams. I drank the Kool-Aid. I drank it. It can be no there can be no prosperity without public safety. This is another notch in that belt about public safety. We opened up the Queens Chamber, opened up a tech incubator in Metropolitan Avenue and Forest Hills. And we counted across the street when I was over there, three illegal weed shops, three of them. 

And it gave the city a black eye. It gave the legit players a black eye. It gave everybody involved the black eye. And there was nothing that could be done. And it was remarkable. And we talked to the P.D. about these things, like why they were being targeted. It's like one of those stories about a bank. Why did Willie Sutton rob banks? That's where the money is, right? There was no controls. There was no credit card. It was cash. It was mayhem for a while. 

So we're really, really proud to stand here with the mayor and the commissioner and Mike and his team from Salsa, thanking the city for doing what they've done regarding these illegal cannabis shops. And it's a huge amount of money that comes in from the legit businesses. But we're really, really happy to be here. Beyond that, this is a great, great location. 

As the commissioner said, it was a padlock storefront. And I'll end with this. During COVID, before COVID, we had 6,000 restaurants in Queens County. 6,000. We lost 1,000 to COVID for a variety of reasons. Right up the block was the Woodhaven House. Now it's been repurposed, right? That old Irish bar [was] there forever. Now it's been repurposed. 

I will tell you that my staff and I go to four to five ribbon cuttings a month. And in a busy month, seven to ten ribbon cuttings all throughout the great borough of Queens. So that doesn't happen by accident. It takes hard work, by lots of the folks in the mayor's office, all throughout the City of New York, and our good friend from SBS, who I've seen four times so far this month – May is Small Business Month. She's a great partner in crime. Thanks very much for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Commissioner Gross: Now I get to talk to you about some of SBS's work for small businesses generally and through our Cannabis NYC initiative. So again, my name is Commissioner Gross. If you've ever confused us with the SBA, that's the federal agency focused on small businesses. These are your local tax dollars at work. 

And we're so happy for the leadership and support of Mayor Adams to launch small businesses, help them operate and grow in this business, and also to invest in thriving commercial strips. We're on a corner here. So the fact that this corner is now occupied, beautifully lit, not only is the removal of the former unlicensed cannabis shop a boon for public safety, but this is an incredible asset to the neighborhood, both through the services that you provide in the restaurant and the way you care for this corner and support this neighborhood. 

So as a former small business owner myself, I know how hard it is to take a leap of faith and open a small business, let alone a second one in New York City. So although it is not an easy or simple regulatory environment, it's one that you're mastering to achieve your dream for your family. And that's what entrepreneurship is in this city. 

So let's take a moment to give Mike and his partners another round of applause. At SBS, we're committed to helping entrepreneurs like Mike realize their dreams of opening their own small businesses. That's why we work every day to provide resources that business owners need. One of them is our commercial leasing assistance program that helps business owners negotiate new leases or lease renewals. That's very important to restaurants, but also to cannabis businesses. 

We want to be sure that the landlords can turn over these spots to lawful businesses and produce income for themselves and services for the neighborhood. We're looking forward to connecting more licensed cannabis businesses with CLA legal assistance. We also have a New York City Business Express service team that helps businesses avoid fines and fees with free compliance consultations. We want to lead with education first. 

We have already saved small businesses more than $42 million since the inception of NYC Best in 2022. And between that program at SBS and other reforms created by Mayor Adams “Small Business Forward” executive order in 2022, this administration has helped businesses in New York City save more than $50 million. So it's the rich ecosystem of supports meeting the ambition of New Yorkers that has led to the resurgence of restaurants, the record numbers of New Yorkers employed in the private sector and record numbers in new business formation citywide, but led here in Brooklyn and in Queens. 

So now that we've arrived at the first anniversary of Operation Padlock to Protect, there's even more opportunity for storefront business growth. And as more and more of these shuttered storefronts are unsealed, landlords and neighborhoods can welcome new productive businesses to their community. 

So there's an important economic story here as legal cannabis has grown in profitability, as the proliferation of unlicensed smoke shops has been addressed because for too long, those good actors who invested a lot to enter the industry in the right way were found their revenues depressed by the proliferation of unlicensed shops. 

So Operation Padlock to Protect is a victory for public safety, a victory for our homegrown legal cannabis industry, and it builds on work that we've done to support that industry at SBS. Since Mayor Adams launched the Cannabis NYC initiative at our agency in 2022, we have provided more than 1,400 consultations to prospective cannabis entrepreneurs. 

We're currently in the midst of a cannabis liftoff public education tour that has engaged more than 6,000 New Yorkers citywide. An additional 200 have participated in our Fast Track for Cannabis Entrepreneurs Business Education Series. So if you want to know how to enter this industry in a lawful way, SBS is here for you. And in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, we did launch the Cannabis NYC Loan Fund, which has already awarded half a million dollars in flexible loans to card licensees citywide. 

And we have a goal of awarding $2 million in the first tranche and more in successive releases of funds in that program. And as a result, we now have 160 high quality legal cannabis dispensaries in New York City with more on the way. This administration is working to make the city the global leader of the legal cannabis industry. 

And at SBS, we're proud to be part of making that happen, to fill these storefronts with businesses from all industries, from pizzerias to dispensaries. So if you want to know more about these services or other SBS services, we hope you'll join us for the New York City Small Business Month Expo. 

May is New York City Small Business Month, and we're going to end the month with a bang on May 29th at Center 415 on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. You can find out more and register at nyc.gov/small bizmonth. So thank you again. And congratulations to Mike, to the sheriff's office, to Mayor Adams so much for this press conference today. And now I believe you're going to take some questions.

Question: [Inaudible.] 

Mayor Adams: Some of the things that were challenged, the Corp Counsel is going through, but it's not going to impact our enforcement effort. There was a lot done around hemp and the inability to inspect locations where there are hemp. We're going to navigate through that. We're going to go to Albany and explain why it's important not to allow any loopholes to exist. 

But the sheriff's department is looking at whatever restrictions are put in place and we're going to operate within them. We can always follow the law, but it's not going to impact our enforcement effort. There's a great team going out, the great task force going out. That includes DCWP, NYPD, the sheriff's department. 

And as we stated, 1,400 illegal locations. We've seen a direct impact back into legal businesses. So we will operate within whatever the laws are. And if we need to modify, we go back and do what we did the last time. Go back to Albany and show how a particular law procedure is impacting our ability to keep the city safe. 

Cash run business where bad guys know is cash runs only. They were preying on these illegal cannabis shops and causing a great deal of violence and increasing crime. And so we know that if there's a need to go back to Albany because of a modification, we're going to do that.

Question: Can you talk about the texture of the enforcement? Is the sheriff going to be voluntarily going around and removing these padlocks? Or is that by request? Are the rates going to be a little slower?

Mayor Adams: Yeah, no. One year has passed by and they had to close for a year. The sheriff is going to methodically go to those locations, unpadlock those locations, or communicate with the business and tell them how to get them unpadlocked. But we're going to make sure these storefronts are open up and operating. 

There's a great demand because of the safety of the city, the success of our small business. People are ready to open small businesses again, and we're excited about that. But they have a procedure, the sheriff and his team, they have a procedure of how we're going to unlock these establishments.

Question: I wanted to ask you, I know you mentioned small business taking some of these storefronts, but is it also going to be focused on women and minority-owned businesses? I know you made that a priority in your administration. And to follow up on that question, is there any worry that as the sheriff goes around unpadding these illegal cannabis shops, they'll just continue to turn into more illegal cannabis shops?

Mayor Adams: Yep. Great question. Small business and M/WBEs have been a major focus of this administration. I think we're up to around $18 billion or higher in the number of procurement contracts that small businesses have been able to benefit from, women and minority-owned businesses. 

And when you are renting a space, it is whatever the market can bear. And so we have no authority to determine what a private landlord is going to rent to, to make sure that they have a good business. We want to make sure it's a legal business. 
And so, yes, are we going to have a small portion that will feel as though we're going to try to sneak in and open an illegal shop? Yes, there's always New Yorkers who try to skirt the law, but we want to be on top of them. We're going to monitor. 
We're going to make sure that legal businesses are open like this great piece of rear. And if they don't, we're going to close them down. They'll wait another [365] days, before they can get back open again.

Question: You talked about the revenues that the businesses, the licensed cannabis businesses have generated for the city. Can you talk about the tax revenues and where is that money going? It's my understanding that the city, like Nassau and Suffolk and other counties, doesn't have a designated fund for those revenues.

Mayor Adams: That's a good question. The Department of Finance, [will] get that information for you exactly where it's going. I know that the most important thing is that we don't want illegal activity, but we'll give you the exact breakdown where the revenue is going. 

Question: [Inaudible]... are you planning to replace Dasheeda Dawson, your former cannabis czar director, or can you give us an update on that search?

Mayor Adams: Yes, we are. She was amazing, brought a lot of talent, and understood the legacy aspect of this. Her energy was amazing and, you know, big shoes to fill. So the next person must bring their own pair, you know, and they must do the job with the same level of energy. 

When you think about what Sister Dawson brought, it was just, you know, just she had a lot of expertise. We looked hard and long to find someone to fit that position. And, you know, there's talent out there. One thing about the city, the city has a deep bench and we're going to be speaking to some of the cannabis shop owners. 

They will give us some names and we will look at other names of people in the industry. Because if you do it here in New York, you become an international leader and superstar because, you know, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Question: I have a question to ask you about where the industry is now. When it first opened up, it was illegal cannabis shops everywhere. Came out of the Cuomo administration, how are you feeling about it now? You know, you really had to be the one to take it on and close all these illegal cannabis shops. You know, how are you feeling about where the industry is now that it seems a little bit more under control?

Mayor Adams: And you're right. You know, I had to clean up a lot of the stuff that the former governor did and just try to get it right. Costs and rights track everything from bail reform to COVID response to dealing with recidivism in our criminal justice system and the cannabis issue. 

You know, his theoretical approaches to things are not always practical. And this administration looked at how the practical implication and implementation of these initiatives must carry out on the ground. That's why we went back to Albany and knew we had to have some changes. 

The amount of barriers that have prevented us from closing down illegal shops were unbelievable. And those illegal shops were basically mocking the system and it was hurting the legal shops. And so I am comfortable where we are, what I would like to do, what I think is important is we have to lean into more education for young people. 

I don't want our young people starting their school day smoking cannabis or doing gummy bears. They need to know what to look for. This is not candy. This could impact on your health and we need to match the industry with some real education to young people on the impacts of starting early [on] using cannabis and brain development and all the things that come with it. So I would like to focus on that area a little more. Okay, thank you.

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