As you may recall, this space was previously Columbia Care, Manhattan's first medicinal marijuana dispensary. This outpost closed at the end of May without much fanfare, in contrast to the hoopla surrounding its opening in January 2016.
Here, the medical conditions approved for marijuana prescriptions were limited to cancer, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis, among several others. In addition, the NYC dispensaries would only sell 30-day supplies of marijuana in the form of oils, pills or tinctures. (Columbia Care still has an outpost out in Riverhead.)
And what came next: In March 2021, New York State legalized adult-use cannabis by passing the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act. That legislation created the Office of Cannabis Management, governed by a Cannabis Control Board to oversee and implement the law.
Since then, we've seen the arrival of legal and, mostly, unlicensed cannabis shops around the city.
Columbia Care originally signed a five-year lease with a five-year renewal option.
The Super Saving Store closed in 2011 and was the last retail tenant before the building underwent a gut renovation/expansion.
Still, despite the for-lease sign, Community Board 3's Cannabis Control Task Force will hear an application for the address for a business called Flower Guys (Dai Ma LLC) this month.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Unfortunately Columbia Care was one of only 2 dispensaries in the city that carried strains and products for medical marijuana patients. Now Etain appears to be the only place in town that carries these products but their selection is greatly reduced and their price point (and quality) is high. It really feels as if we patients, especially those us us with serious conditions that qualified in the first round of certificates, were only used as a foot in the door for recreational cannabis and are now having the products that helped us deal with painful conditions made unavailable. Shame on NY for using us as opportunity to make money and then dumping us.
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