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‘The smell of pot is on every godd*** corner’: Caroline Hirsch fed up with marijuana stench in NYC

November 6, 2022 | | Print Article

Rampant crime isn’t the only problem that city-dwellers are facing thanks to progressive policies and the famed comedy club owner known for discovering the likes of Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock recently spoke out about one overpowering problem “on every godd*mn corner.”

After originally opening a cabaret club with friends in New York City in 1982 called Caroline’s in Chelsea, now 72-year-old Brooklyn native Caroline Hirsch relocated to Times Square a decade later as a comedy club called Caroline’s on Broadway. Speaking to the New York Post ahead of the annual New York Comedy Festival that she founded, she addressed the rampant marijuana use and how it has only added to safety concerns that have grown under progressive leadership.

“I have to tell you that it’s not only here,” Hirsch said of  the tourist heavy midtown location, “but the smell of pot is on every godd*mn corner.”

“I mean, I’m very susceptible to smelling it … not that I smoke pot, but I’m an ex-cigarette smoker,” she went on.

Recreational marijuana usage may be legal in public, but the problem has been compounded by other decisions in the area like closing lanes of traffic to make European-style plazas in the area. “That’s because they put the plaza in … people don’t move around enough, people sit in certain areas.”

On top of that, Hirsch suggested the soft-on-crime policies and discretionary prosecution of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has made matters worse stating, “And certainly, the bail reform has not helped the city.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has been dismissive of the causality of progressive policies like cashless bail on increasing crime rates and on Friday tried to defend her record by arguing the struggles New York faces are not isolated, “So, I’m not sure how firing one district attorney in one borough in New York is going to deal with the crime issue across the state, across the nation.”

Indirectly, she may have been admitting to the problem, but it still took MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle of all people to press the unelected governor after stating, “Here’s the problem. We don’t feel safe. You might be working closely with Mayor Adams, you may have spent a whole lot of money, but I walk into my pharmacy and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters.”

“I’m not going in the subway. People don’t feel safe in this town,” Ruhle continued. So, you may have done these things, but right now, we’re not feeling good. We’re worried we could be San Francisco.”

Hirsch hinted at a passive mindset in the city that may have attributed to the growing problem as she told the post, “As a New Yorker, you always think like, ‘Nothing’s gonna happen to me.'”

However, since bail reform passed under disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in 2019, crime has remained on the rise with overall statistics going up about 30 percent since this time in 2021. With the midterm election coming on Tuesday, Hochul may be dismissive of the problem, but her gubernatorial challenger Rep. Lee Zeldin (R) has vowed to declare a crime emergency on day one to allow for measures to address the problem directly.

Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:

Kevin Haggerty
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