[cgbg]

The black market in cigarettes is stunning in NYC.

https://www.thecentersquare.com/new_york/article_a3567088-77c9-11ed-92a0-03ce877878f8.html

More than half of all cigarettes sold in the city are black market.

[T.B. Yoits]

The black market in cigarettes is stunning in NYC. More than half of all cigarettes sold in the city are black market.

That's by design. The high taxes on cigarettes were not meant to discourage smokers but to allow organized crime to profit from unstamped cigarettes - of course giving a piece to the New York city political machine.

[Fledermaus]

Gee, I wonder why? Hmm, could raising rates on them so high be a reason? Nah!

Idiots.