NYC NOW - April 17, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: April 17, 2023

New York has given out 165 licenses for recreational cannabis dispensaries since November and they’ve all gone to people with past marijuana convictions. But only 7 of those shops have opened state-wide so far. WNYC’s health reporter Caroline Lewis explains why. Also, the NYPD showed off the DigiDog last week - a robot, sort of dog shaped, that they say will help NYPD and other first responders provide more effective policing across the city. Public safety reporter Samantha Max spoke with WNYC’s Tiffany Hanssen about the NYPD and robots.

Good evening and welcome to NYC Now. I'm Michael Hill for WNYC. New York has given out 165 licenses for recreational cannabis dispensaries since November, and they've all gone to people with past marijuana convictions. But only seven of those shops have opened statewide so far. WNYC's health reporter Caroline Lewis spoke to industry insiders who say missing funding and real estate competition are slowing down. For new cannabis businesses, getting a license is only half the battle. They also need

startup capital for rent and construction, among other expenses, which cannabis lawyer Andrew Cooper says can add up. We're talking about easily north of a million dollars, closer to a million five or more if you add in inventory and employee costs. And they have to find a good retail location. State rules say a weed shop can't be too close to a school or a house of worship, and it has to be at least a thousand feet from another dispensary. These and other restrictions mean the eligible space is limited. Alan Gondelman is the president of the Cannabis Association of New York. He says the state should have a zero-foot rule instead. That's just how free market works. There's a Starbucks on every corner. No one is saying you can't have different coffee shops in

every corner. New York has tried to give its first batch of license recipients a leg up. In last year's budget, Governor Kathy Hockel put $50 million towards the social equity fund for these businesses, and the state intended to raise another $150 million through private capital. But government sources say this private funding has yet to materialize. The state is still using existing funds to lease and renovate retail spaces for new license holders. This money is provided as a loan, and dispensary operators have to agree to use state-selected properties and contractors. The state leases the properties through an agency called the Dormitory Authority. Koss Marte, who got a dispensary license earlier this month, is one of the licensees who

are opting to strike out on their own instead. I'm looking to self-finance with my partners for now. We have the availability to do it, and we feel like we could move faster, you know. But industry watchers say when licensees try to go it alone to find dispensary locations, they sometimes find themselves competing against the state, as the dormitory. Authority scoops up retail space for other licensees. New York cannabis officials are in the process of reviewing public comments on their proposed licensing regulations for the broader market, meaning fixes could be coming soon. Caroline Lewis, WNYC News.

Stick around. There's more after the break. If you happen to be in Times Square early last week, you might have seen Mayor Adams and officials from the NYPD showing off a dog-like robot that they hope will help the department provide more effective policing across the city. Public safety reporter Samantha Max joined my colleague Tiffany Hanson to talk about the use of robots by the NYPD and other first responders. So you were there when this dog-like robot was on display. From the pictures I've seen, it looks a little bit like a movie prop. But what did it look like? Describe it for us and any other robots you may have seen. So Digi Dog is yellow and black, walks on four legs that can bend, so it can walk up

stairs, or over curbs. And it has a 360-degree camera and sensors that can also be equipped with microphones. Police say they plan to use these devices in dangerous situations that they don't necessarily want to send officers into right away, like if there's a bomb threat or a hostage negotiation. Another device that they were showing off, it's called the K-5. It looks kind of like a tiny rocket ship on wheels. It's this white cone that it's got camera. cameras and microphones, and it can move around and actually patrol a small area. And then there's one other device that they were showing off called the Star Chase. This looks similar to a gun.

And police can actually use it to shoot a GPS tracking device onto a car so that they can watch its movements without doing a high-speed chase. So are these devices being used successfully elsewhere in the country? And for what purpose? They are being used in other places, not just by police departments. So the DigiDog, it's often used like at work sites, maybe a manufacturing plant or a construction site. It can keep workers out of dangerous spaces. K-5's manufacturer says it's used by 30 clients in 10 different states.

And it's often used almost like a security guard, but a robot, at places like malls and hospitals. office parks. And then the Starchaste technology is also already used by some other law enforcement agencies. But, you know, in terms of whether they're actually successful, I think that's something to keep an eye on. It's not like there's a ton of research on these different technologies, certainly not independently conducted like academic research. But the K5, for instance, we know it has had some struggles. There have been news reports about one of these robots, being covered in barbecue sauce, another about one of them being beat up by a drunk person. So, you know, with technology, there's also the chance for things to go wrong.

So does that mean the city of New York is not using them right now or they are using them? There are plans to use them. Well, with the Ditchie Dog, the FDNY actually recently bought two of its own. So it has already been using that technology, I think, for rescue missions. Now the NYPD has two of its own and New Yorkers might start to see them around in certain situations. But for the most part, they'll be used in more kind of high-stakes situations where it's, you know, it's not just like every day walking around patrolling the streets. And the other two devices are just being rented through pilot programs that are expected to start a little bit in the future. All right. I can imagine there are critics of these robots. So what are they saying?

Yes, there are surveillance concerns. People are worried about whether these robots are going to be watching them and tracking their data. They might also be worried about technological malfunctions. People are telling me, you know, what if something goes wrong with these robots and they hurt someone? People want transparency about how they're going to be used and any data that might be collected, how that would be stored and what training officers might get. And some folks that I talked to were worried that these could continue to. a road trust between police and the public. It's hard enough for human beings to relate to one another. So thinking about human beings and robots relating is, you know, just on a whole different level. Well, those concerns aside, I can also imagine someone saying these things are expensive. So how do we pay for them? And what's the rationale for spending this money right now? The price tag is high. The police department spent $750,000 to buy two Digi Dogs. And then the other devices, for now they're just leasing them. So they're spending about $12,000 on the K-5 and about $20,000 on the Star-Chase technology.

But Mayor Eric Adams, he says there's never the wrong time for public safety and that this isn't a waste of money because it's an investment. But, you know, meanwhile, other people are frustrated that police are spending so much money on these gadgets when we're at the same time asking lots of money. of city agencies to cut their budgets and people would rather see the money go to things like libraries or housing or education. That was public safety reporter Samantha Mac speaking with our Tiffany Hanson. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. We'll be back tomorrow.