Just goes to show you - it's sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Imagine if Tesla hadn't opened stores in these locations - they would be

Just goes to show you - it's sometimes better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Imagine if Tesla hadn't opened stores in these locations - they would be indefinitely, unconditionally barred from doing so unless they had flouted the auto dealer rules and went forward with the stores regardless. Now they have a foothold. When you realize that the stakeholders (in this case, New York State Politicians) have a political interest in you flouting their rules then the rules just don't seem that rul-y anymore. It's also what's going to get their foot in Texas, as well. Elon Musk is one smart dude.