Weed her lips.
Caroline Hirsch, the owner of the famed comedy club Caroline’s on Broadway says marijuana — legal or not — is contributing to the growing sense of lawlessness in Times Square.
“I have to tell you that it’s not only here, but the smell of pot is on every goddamn corner,” said Hirsch, who open the club in Times Square in 1992 and also founded the New York Comedy Festival, which runs Nov. 7 to 13 this year.
Smoking weed became legal in the city in August.
“I mean, I’m very susceptible to smelling it … not that I smoked pot, but I’m an ex-cigarette smoker.”
Hirsch and her friends originally opened Caroline’s in Chelsea in 1982 as a cabaret club. A decade later, she moved the venue to Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets.
The 72-year-old Brooklyn native said the neighborhood is not as safe as it once was.
“That’s because they put the plazas in … people don’t move around enough, people sit in certain areas,” said Hirsch, a board member of the Times Square Alliance. “And certainly, the bail reform has not helped the city.”
She also noted that being from New York can provide a false sense of security.
“As a New Yorker, you always think like, ‘Nothing’s gonna happen to me,’” she said.
Hirsch is known for her discerning eye for talent, and her young discoveries include Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Crystal and Chris Rock.
The club even names its cocktails after celebrities who got their start there, including Tracy Morgan, Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer and Kevin Hart — the latter a mixture of Malibu rum, amaretto, and peach schnapps.
After over 40 years of giving up-and-coming comics their break, Hirsch still revels in finding young stars.
“It’s so much fun to be involved with them because all the people I grew up with, they’re all big-time producers now or starring on “The Tonight Show” — Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld … Jon Stewart. Those were all the kids,” she said. “So it’s been a good ride.”
