The informal walking tour came to a pause on Amsterdam Avenue, outside a brick building where a beloved Upper West Side pizzeria had recently been replaced by yet another rogue weed shop. 23 — an entry on an oversize spreadsheet tracking the explosion of unlicensed cannabis stores in her district since New York legalized the drug in 2021. “These guys are currently out of compliance with absolutely everything,” he muttered before moving on to the next shop. At last count, there were 56 unlicensed shops within about 200 square blocks, twice as many as a year ago. Brewer, a 72-year-old former Manhattan borough president, came to be a leading combatant in New York’s madcap battle against illegal weed, you need to know about just one: Zaza Waza.

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Persons: Gale Brewer, Sam Goldsmith, Brewer, Zaza Organizations: West Locations: Amsterdam, New York, Manhattan