NY residents smoking weed at Saks, subway, US Open

Saks Fifth Avenue’s Manhattan flagship is offering a new scent: marijuana.

On a recent weekday afternoon, the high-end flagship’s shoe department smelled less like Manolo Blahnik leather and more like a head shop, a stylist told The Post.

“It’s jarring when you walk into a high-end department store where you used to smell Chanel perfume and now it’s weed,” the stylist, who requested anonymity, said. (The Post has reached out to Saks for comment). 

But, she admitted: “Everywhere you go in New York City smells like weed. It’s not just Saks — it’s at Bloomingdales, at the movies … there’s no high-end anymore.” 

Indeed, brazen New Yorkers are lighting joints on the F train, ripping vape pens on the Hampton Jitney and firing up at upscale restaurants like Carbone and Nobu 57, observers told The Post.

Even tennis player Maria Sakkari griped about the pungent odor pervading her match this week at the US Open: “It was weed. The smell, oh my gosh.”

“Court 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg’s living room,”  Alexander Zverev told the press after winning his match Tuesday. “Oh my God, it´s everywhere. The whole court smells like weed.” (USTA rep Chris Widmaier told the New York Times: “I don’t know if the marijuana smell is from inside the stadium or if it wafted over from somewhere else in [Flushing Meadows Corona] park.”)

Like tobacco, marijuana — which has been legal in New York State since 2021 — smoking or vaping is prohibited in public indoor spaces as well as parks, beaches, sports arenas and on public transportation, including at stations.

But the potential $50 fine isn’t stopping everyone.

A Post reporter watched Tuesday morning as a young man blithely puffed on a joint aboard the F train in downtown Manhattan, a week after seeing two guys pass a doobie back and forth on the same line.

“A woman was smoking marijuana on the G train on Saturday and nobody told her to stop. She had the vibe of, ‘I do whatever I want,’” said Jeffrey, a 38-year-old who lives in Brooklyn and asked The Post not to use his last name for fear of being harassed. But he didn’t say anything, because “I don’t want to get stabbed.”

Similarly, a Hamptons-bound Manhattanite who asked not to be named said they observed someone smoking a weed pen on the Hamptons Jitney recently.

“It was a quarter full and the guy was way in the front. They were smoking out of a pen,” the Manhattanite said.

The NYPD is primarily responsible for patrolling the subway system for smokers, MTA officials told The Post.

Through Sunday, 8,216 smoke/open flame/vape violations have been issued by NYPD officers in 2023, data obtained by The Post shows.

That’s up 89.7% compared to 4,331 during the same span in 2022.

Criminal summonses related to smoking on MTA trains and facilities has also skyrocketed this year to 692 as of Sunday, compared to 325 in the same span a year ago — a 112.9% surge, according to stats provided by the NYPD.

Some say business owners are afraid to crack down out of fear of being labeled as prohibitionists — and feel government officials aren’t doing enough to support regulations.

“I hold Gov. Hochul responsible. She’s been promoting marijuana use. She’s bending over backwards to get people to use marijuana and get marijuana stores set up,” David G. Evans, organizer of the group Cannabis Industry Victims Seeking Justice, told The Post. “It’s not good for any community.”

Restaurateur Sammy Musovic who owns Sojourn and Sojourn Social on the Upper East Side, has had to post No Smoking signs due to the influx of cannabis. 

“It’s been happening very frequently, especially in the bar area with weed pens. A lot of people complain about it,” Musovic told The Post. “We’ll whisper in their ear, ‘We’re getting some complaints, can you take it outside?’ They try to put it under the table and keep smoking.”

One diner — who asked to withhold their name out of fear of being barred from reservation books — told The Post they saw smoke and smelled marijuana as two other customers vaped during a recent lunch at the West Village hot spot Carbone.

“I was sitting there for lunch two weeks ago and two guys next to me were smoking weed with the pen. I smelled it. It was inside,” the source said. 

“It was discreet. They took a drag while they were having a drink but you still see the smoke. It’s impossible to police, but it still has a smell,” the source said. (The Post has reached out to Carbone). 

Another customer swears they observed toking at high-end sushi restaurant Nobu 57 in Midtown recently. 

“It was right at the table. Nobody said anything,” the source said. 

Some restaurant owners, meanwhile, like Stratis Morfogen of Brooklyn Dumpling House, don’t tolerate smoke inside their restaurants — but say when stoners come in hungry, it’s good for the bottom line.

“Dumplings and weed go well together,” he quipped. “It’s good for our business.”