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The city of Syracuse, including Mayor Ben Walsh himself, acted with anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias earlier this year when it closed a retail shop accused of illegally selling marijuana, according to a lawsuit filed by the shop owner.
The bias claim was added this month to a lawsuit against the city originally filed in State Supreme Court in October by Tarek Shehadeh, owner of Tâs Wireless in the former Deyâs building in downtown Syracuse. The original lawsuit, claiming the city overstepped its authority in violated the law in shutting the shop down, named the city and its codes enforcement director, Jake Dishaw, as defendants.
This month, Walsh was added by name as a defendant, and the case has been transferred to federal court.
The amended lawsuit claims that the cityâs action to close Tâs Wireless and four other shops accused of illegal marijuana sales in September showed discrimination because all are âArab-owned, Palestinian-owned, and/or Muslim-owned businesses.â The suit claims the city has failed to act against other shops that are âsimilarly or identically-situatedâ but not operated by Arab, Palestinian and/or Muslim owners.
âEach defendant has, at all times relevant to this action, been motivated by racial, ethnic, and religious-based discriminatory animus toward Plaintiffs and their employees, all of whom are Muslims Palestinian Americans,â the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit describes Shehadeh as a âMuslim Palestinian American and natural born United States citizen.â
In response to a syracuse.com request for comment on the allegation of racial bias, the city provided a statement from Corporation Counsel Susan Katzoff, the cityâs top lawyer:
âThe allegation in the amended complaint is a baseless and transparent attempt to distract from their unlawful behavior,â Katzoff said.
Shahedehâs shop, whose address is 410 S. Warren St. in the Deyâs Centennial building, reopened on Oct. 25 following a temporary restraining order issued by State Supreme Court Justice James Murphy following the original lawsuit. Tâs Wireless sells phones, clothing and shoes and also has a valid state license to sell hemp-derived CBD products (but not marijuana, which is separately licensed).
The lawsuit stems from a series of actions the city took against the five businesses in September.
In each case, the city codes office declared each location âunfit for human occupancy.â The codes actions followed inspections conducted by agents of the stateâs Office of Cannabis Management and Department of Taxation and Finance, who claimed they found evidence the shops were selling marijuana (cannabis with higher levels of THC than hemp products).
In addition to Tâs Wireless, the shops shut down were:
- EXscape Exotic, a smoke shop and vape lounge, at 167 Marshall St.
- NY Exotic, a smoke shop, at 123 Marshall St.
- North Side Express, a convenience store, at 400 Wolf St.
- Smoke City 420, a smoke shop, at 1105 N. Salina St.
Shehadehâs lawyer, Brady OâMalley of the Nave Law Firm in Syracuse, said he is also representing one of the other shops, but declined to identify which one.
The September crackdown represented a new tactic in the cityâs effort to contain the growth of illicit cannabis shops since New York state legalized adult-use cannabis in 2021. The state has been slow to roll out its own legal and licensed shops, called dispensaries, allowing a gray market to thrive.
In Syracuse, the city codes office has attempted to close about a dozen such shops in the past year or so, but often found that they just popped up again.
Dishaw, the code enforcement director, has told syracuse.com the stateâs decision to inspect and cite shops for illegal marijuana helped provide the legal authority to declare the locations âunfit for human occupancy.â That declaration means they canât be used for any purpose until they work out a plan to be in legal compliance. They are also subject to fines.
âThe difference now is that we are working together with the state agencies,â Dishaw told syracuse.com in September, comparing last monthâs action to the cityâs previous efforts. âNow the state can come in and find them in violation, and we can come back and since they are operating contrary to law, we can declare them unfit.â
OâMalley said this week that heâs heard from the state cannabis office that the illicit marijuana charges against Tâs Wireless will be dropped. The state cannabis officeâs efforts to follow up on its inspections has also been hampered by delays.
In any case, the basis of Shehadehâs original lawsuit is that the city did not have the right to shut the businesses down.
âThe cityâs improvisational use of code enforcement power as a means to âregulateâ the local cannabis market plainly violates state and local law,â the lawsuit states.
In October, a City Hall spokesman told syracuse.com the cityâs actions were based on state and city codes, not cannabis law.
The original Tâs Wireless lawsuit noted that Walsh himself stopped into Tâs Wireless on the day before the state cannabis and tax agents inspected it for illicit cannabis. The suit includes exhibits showing Walsh taking pictures of cannabis products on a counter in the shop and then leaving. At that time, the shop was located in a different part of the Deyâs Centennial Building, facing Salina Street.
The lawsuit also includes videos taken by surveillance cameras in the shop. One shows a man identifying himself as an employee of the city codes department sympathizing with the person at the counter. He appears to say he didnât think the shop was doing anything wrong, but that the orders came âfrom City Hall.â
Another video, according to the lawsuit, âshows Dishaw laughing, gloating, flashing his code enforcement credentials, smearing and mocking Plaintiffs and their employees, and casually describing his plan to shut down the store the next day.â
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.