There’s a basic question floating around Mount Vernon right now:
Who is actually running this city?
Because based on what residents are seeing—and asking—it doesn’t appear to be anyone.
An email chain circulating among residents this week raises serious concerns about a planned multi-day cannabis-related event in Fleetwood tied to two dispensary promotions around April 20.
The concerns aren’t subtle. They’re fundamental:
- Are there permits?
- Who approved this?
- What agencies reviewed it?
- What happens if something goes wrong?
So far, the answer to all of those questions appears to be the same: no response.
This Isn’t About Cannabis
This is not a debate about legalization.
Cannabis is legal in New York. Dispensaries are legal. That’s not the issue.
The issue is governance.
Even supporters of legalization should be asking:
- You’re hosting a multi-day event
- In a mixed residential/commercial neighborhood
- Potentially involving crowds, traffic, vendors, and public safety risks
And no one can point to:
- A permit
- A site plan review
- Police or DPW coordination
- Any public discussion at a City Council meeting
That’s not normal. That’s not how any functioning municipality operates.
What the State Actually Says About Cannabis Events
Under current New York rules, a promotional “takeover” tied to dispensary sales isn’t just unpermitted. It’s unpermittable.
The New York Office of Cannabis Management has stated it directly on its compliance page: “The Office does not currently issue permits for cannabis events.” A showcase event framework exists on paper under Cannabis Law § 130-a, but OCM has not stood up the regulatory machinery to issue those permits on any routine basis.
And for any cannabis event held outside a licensed dispensary, OCM’s rules are blunt:
- Must be limited to education and product showcase
- No on-site consumption
- No direct or indirect cannabis sales
So if the Fleetwood event involves sampling, pop-up sales, giveaways tied to purchases, or any on-site consumption, it’s non-compliant with state cannabis law regardless of what the City does or doesn’t do.
If it’s purely educational—no sales, no consumption, no sampling—OCM may not require a state permit. But that doesn’t get anyone off the hook for the stack of local approvals Mount Vernon requires for an event of this size.
What the City Actually Requires
The City’s own Special Event Application defines a “special event” as any preplanned gathering on a public or private street, sidewalk, park, or building that inhibits normal pedestrian or vehicle flow or preempts normal use of the space.
A multi-day 4/20 activation in a mixed residential/commercial block meets that definition the moment it puts up a tent, runs amplified sound, brings in food vendors, or draws crowds into the street.
None of these apply only to events on public land. A cannabis event on a private lot with amplified music, sidewalk crowds, and traffic spillover will automatically trigger zoning enforcement, noise complaints, and disorderly-premises findings regardless of who owns the parcel.
Nothing on the Council Record
We pulled the text from all 13 City Council agenda packets covering October 8, 2025 through April 8, 2026—the last regular meeting before the event weekend.
Elevate doesn’t appear in any of them. Neither does Nuna Harvest. Not as a business, not as a sponsor, not as an applicant, not as a co-sponsor.
No agenda item, ordinance, resolution, referral letter, or attachment authorizes a cannabis event, a 4/20 event, or any special event at all for April 19 or April 20, 2026.
If the Council approved this event, the record should show it. It doesn’t.
Residents Are Doing the Government’s Job
Look at what’s happening in real time:
- Residents are filing complaints with the State Office of Cannabis Management
- Others are contacting State Police
- Some are preparing to reach out to the District Attorney
- Multiple people have emailed the Mayor and City Council
And the response? Silence.
The Integrity Project called the City Clerk’s office on Friday 4/17 at 12:30pm and again at 1pm. Both times nobody picked up the phone and we were re-directed to voicemail.***
When residents are escalating issues to state agencies before the City even acknowledges them, something is broken.
The Pattern Is the Story
If this were an isolated incident, maybe you chalk it up to confusion.
But it’s not. This fits a pattern Mount Vernon residents know all too well:
- Events appear without clear approvals
- Enforcement is inconsistent or nonexistent
- Basic questions go unanswered
- Decisions—if they’re being made—aren’t being made publicly
The pattern around this specific dispensary is worth noting. Elevate opened on South Terrace Avenue in December 2023 without a building permit, was given a temporary certificate of occupancy the following February, and as of last summer still lacked site plan approval, a permanent certificate of occupancy, and a zoning variance for its undersized parking lot.
A previous “Cars and Cannabis” event last August went forward while those approvals were still outstanding. None of that has been resolved quietly in the background—it’s just been waved through.
And afterward, everyone is left asking what just happened.
The Real Risk
The concern raised in the thread isn’t hypothetical.
Residents referenced prior large gatherings that required mutual aid from surrounding police departments when things got out of control. Like the brawl at Memorial Stadium.
That’s what happens when:
- Events are not properly vetted
- Crowd management isn’t planned
- Agencies aren’t coordinated
This is exactly why municipalities have permitting processes in the first place.
What Should Be Happening
In any competently run city, a multi-day event like this would trigger:
- Formal permit applications
- Interdepartmental review (Police, Fire, DPW, Buildings)
- Conditions on operations (hours, security, sanitation, traffic)
- Public awareness—if not outright discussion
Instead, residents are left piecing together information from social media posts and email chains.
The Bottom Line
This isn’t about whether a 4/20 event should happen.
It’s about whether anything in Mount Vernon happens with structure, oversight, or accountability.
Right now, the answer is a resounding no. And until that changes, it won’t matter what the issue is—cannabis, zoning, development, or public safety.
The outcome will be the same:
Residents asking basic questions.
And City Hall nowhere to be found.
***Update: City Hall returned our phone call at 3.30pm. They stated that they had contacted both establishments, which insisted that the events would only be within parameters that do not require City permits, which means: No amplified music, no food trucks, nothing on city sidewalks, no cannabis consumption on the premises. Given that these establishment have made these kind of statements before past events, just to ignore them, I encouraged the City Clerk’s office to send inspectors to ensure compliance with City and State laws.