Two businesses with shady pasts located on East 204th Street in Norwood reopened to cash in on the legalization of marijuana. However, both stores appear to have been targeted by law enforcement as part of the new “Operation Padlock to Protect” mission.

 

Norwood News observed officers from the 52^nd Precinct and the New York City Sheriff’s Office conduct a raid at the “High Cloud” store located at 357 East 204th Street on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 18.

 

When we later asked a man working behind the counter of the store about the incident, he alleged, “We didn’t get raided.” Asked why the police had been in the store, the man replied, “I don’t know. Get out of here, brother.”

 

In response to more inquiries, a man who had been sitting across the street during the apparent raid, said, “They shut it down when it got raided.” Asked why the store was still open therefore, the man replied, “They took all the stuff out of it. I don’t know what it was. Yeah, they took bags of it, a lot of white bags.”

 

When contacted for comment on the incident, the New York City Sheriff’s office said, “The Sheriff’s Joint Compliance Task Force conducted an inspection at 357 East 204 Street which resulted in the seizures of flavored vape products and other tobacco products. However, no cannabis or THC products were found in the location during the inspection.”

 

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the word “marijuana” refers to parts of or products from the plant Cannabis sativa that contain substantial amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the substance that’s primarily responsible for the effects of marijuana on a person’s mental state.

The statement concluded, “Therefore the location was not padlocked.” High Cloud is the former site of Lexa Bar where on March 27, 2021, a 38-year-old man was stabbed, and a 31-year-old female bystander was shot after a dispute.

 

Meanwhile, a June 20th social media post included two photos of “Rite Bud Convenience” store located at 319 East 204th Street at Hull Avenue in Norwood that showed the store’s plate glass window had been broken and the store apparently ransacked. When contacted, the NYPD said they had no report of any incident at the location.

 

The social media user who posted the photos wrote, “The head shop on East 204 Street and Hull was just vandalized. People may have mixed feelings about head shops, but this is wrong.”

 

According to the website 420 Science, “a headshop is an establishment that sells cannabis lifestyle accessories but not cannabis itself. The headshop gets its name from the phrase, ‘Get your head right.’ It’s a shop for your head, and that was very evident in the early headshops. Early headshops only had a small selection of pipes.”

 

Having only opened a month or two prior to the incident, workers were seen at the store on Friday, June 28. By July 15, Rite Bud’s sign had been replaced with one for, “Halal Gyro King Deli.” On Sunday, July 20, a young man renovating the shop said he knew nothing about ‘Rite Bud’ and said the new deli would open the following week.

The location is the former site of AKS Halal Deli & Grill which, in June 2016, was raided by investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office who charged the owner and several family members with cheating the food stamp program out of $296,000.

 

Norwood News has contacted the Manhattan DA’s office to ascertain the latest status of the food stamp case and will share any updates we receive. According to an Assignment of Leases and Rents document filed with the City in respect of the property site, the listed assignor is 204 Holdings LLC with an address in Kings Point, NY and the listed assignee is Northfield Bank with an address of Woodbridge, NJ.

 

We are still trying to find out if Rite Bud and Halal Gyro King are owned by the same family who owned AKS Halal Deli in 2016. We will share any updates we receive. The owner of AKS Halal Deli is presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

According to the New York City Sheriff, since Operation Padlock began in May, the task force has padlocked 715 locations citywide, 160 in The Bronx. During those raids, they issued over $59 million in civil penalties and seized over $28 million in illicit products.

 

Norwood News has contacted the Manhattan DA’s office to ascertain the latest status of the food stamp case and will share any updates we receive. According to an Assignment of Leases and Rents document filed with the City in respect of the property site, the listed assignor is 204 Holdings LLC with an address in Kings Point, NY and the listed assignee is Northfield Bank with an address of Woodbridge, NJ.

We are still trying to find out if Rite Bud and Halal Gyro King are owned by the same family who owned AKS Halal Deli in 2016. We will share any updates we receive. The owner of AKS Halal Deli is presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.

 

According to the New York City Sheriff, since Operation Padlock began in May, the task force has padlocked 715 locations citywide, 160 in The Bronx. During those raids, they issued over $59 million in civil penalties and seized over $28 million in illicit products.