Report: Incoming legal cannabis dispensary drawing opposition on 3rd Street

Photo by Steven

One of the city's next legal cannabis dispensaries is opening in April at 3 E. Third St., just east of the Bowery.

According to published reports, the dispensary coming to the ground-floor retail of this newish condoplex is Gotham, whose license holder is the nonprofit Strive, which "provides job training and other services to the formerly incarcerated." The organization was founded in East Harlem in 1984. (Strive is one of eight nonprofits in the state to receive marijuana licenses this past November.) 

The location has reportedly drawn opposition from management at Project Renewal, which operates a men's shelter and an in-patient substance abuse treatment on the block. 

Per NY1:

"Our clients come and go from this program on a daily basis," said Gabriel Woodhouse, program director with Project Renewal. "It's literally within sight line. I mean, it's right across the street from the front door of our program."

Technically, the restaurant Gemma and the Bowery Hotel is directly across the street from 3 E. Third St.

In addition, Community Board 3 passed a resolution stating that it would only approve the license at a different location. (This CB3 decision is only advisory.)

In any event, Gotham's management team wasn't having any of this. Joanne Wilson, manager of the project, told NY1 that they are moving forward with plans to open this spring.

As NY1 points out, the dispensary is subject to strict state regulations with limited signage (unlike the garish illegal operations), and cannabis products won't be visible outside the store.

"There will not be smoke that's being pumped out on the street. There won't be music that's being pumped out in the street," Wilson said. "Yes, there will be people, and there will be people shopping. But it's not anything but just a store."

The Housing Works Cannabis Co. store — New York's first legal recreational marijuana market — opened to great fanfare and long lines on Dec. 29 on Broadway at Eighth Street in a former Gap retail space. 

The future of the unlicensed weed vendors

The Housing Works Cannabis Co. store — New York's first legal recreational marijuana market — opened to great fanfare and long lines this past Thursday on Broadway at Eighth Street in a former Gap retail space. 

So what might happen in the months ahead to the numerous unlicensed sellers who have popped up all over the East Village and every other city neighborhood? 

Curbed had a piece on this topic the other day titled: "The Weed Bodega Was Beautiful While It Lasted." 

[P]er New York's Office of Cannabis Management, the era of the weed bodega — the tacky, snack-filled corner-store purveyor, like the regular bodega's stoner cousin — is about to be over. Instead, the state's legal weed retailers will be subject to an extremely long list of regulations that includes rules on everything from location to security to aesthetics. 

The compliance requirements will undoubtedly be onerous and expensive for many of the operators vying for licenses, but the décor rules in particular seem designed to kill the gray-market upstarts that flooded the city in the beautiful, wild period between decriminalization and the rollout of official licenses. 

It's as if regulators walked into a humble weed bodega — Cloudy Vibez, Weed 4 U, Kannabis Korner — and banned everything they saw: "cartoons," "bubble-type or other cartoon-like font," "bright colors," "neon," the terms "candy" or "candies," "kandy" or "kandeez," and "symbols, images, characters, public figures, phrases, toys, or games" commonly marketed to people under 21. 

Also barred are signs or business names "depicting cannabis, cannabis products, or the imagery or action of smoking or vaping." As the city begins to enforce these rules in earnest, the welcoming visage of a rasta Alvin the Chipmunk will begin to disappear from our streetscape. 

Meanwhile, the city is cracking down on the illegal shops ... not to mention the sidewalk vendors, as seen on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

This past Dec. 7, we received multiple EVG reader tips about busts underway at East Village shops (photo below by Derek Berg) ...

As Gothamist reported, the Sheriff's Interagency Enforcement Task Force has been cracking down on the shops citywide. 

Per the site: 

The task force is led by the sheriff's office — the enforcement arm of the city's Department of Finance — and also includes the police department, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and the state Office of Cannabis Management.

Mayor Eric Adams announced the creation of the task force in mid-December. In a two-week span, officials said at the time, the task force had inspected 53 storefronts across the city and seized more than 100,000 illegal products worth about $4 million. Officials also issued 500 civil violations and 66 criminal summonses over that time, Sheriff Anthony Miranda said. All told, the city has conducted 248 store inspections, including 23 in December, through Dec. 29.

Another factor in the potential demise of the unlicensed shops: a survey (results here) conducted by the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association found the presence of potentially deadly E. coli, salmonella and pesticides in many products from 20 unlicensed stores that publicly advertise selling marijuana, as Bloomberg reported. 

As the Post noted, the study also found that there are "likely tens of thousands of illicit cannabis businesses currently out of bodegas, smoke shops, or other retail locations" that are licensed to sell other products. 

 

So as the enforcement becomes stricter and the fines pile up, what will the owners of the unlicensed businesses do moving forward — especially if their shops, many looking like a set-piece from "Bullet Train," don't meet the state's requirements? What kind of empty storefront surplus might be upon us in the months ahead if smoke shops don't open in every vacant space?

Top photo from Dec. 29 by Steven

Holy smokes! 2 more unlicensed weed shops pop up in the East Village

Photos by Steven

Another day, another few smoke shops setting up for business in the East Village. 

Up top, we have Giggles Convenience (so many smoke shops, so few names left!), coming sooner than you think on First Avenue, just below Fourth Street. Signage includes a skeleton in a hat smoking from a bong.

And on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, Pride Smokes is offering "foreign snacks" and various items you can find in the other few dozen shops that have debuted of late...

Late last month, 28 individuals and businesses and eight nonprofits were designated Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses by the state Office of Cannabis Management ... for a total of 36 licenses statewide, per published reports. 

The Times had a piece last week titled: "How New York City Became a Free-for-All of Unlicensed Weed."

Excerpt! 

The sleek dispensaries and tacky bodegas are part of an explosion of unlicensed cannabis shops that have opened in New York over the past year as part of a rush to cash in on the state's legalization of cannabis. Now on the eve of the launch of the state's legal market, the authorities face growing pressure to address the shops, which have created confusion among everyone from tourists to police officers. 

And... 

The Police Department explained in an email to The New York Times that, in its view, the legalization law does not give officers the authority to make seizures or arrests when they see cannabis displayed or to shut down unlicensed shops. "The law only provides an enforcement mechanism if an actual sale is observed," its public-information office said.

Meanwhile, a survey (results here) conducted by the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association found the presence of potentially deadly E. coli, salmonella and pesticides in many products from 20 unlicensed stores that publicly advertise selling marijuana, as Bloomberg reported. 

As the Post noted, the study also found that there are "likely tens of thousands of illicit cannabis businesses currently out of bodegas, smoke shops, or other retail locations" that are licensed to sell other products. 

Where you'll be able to find the Goodies on the Bowery

Another day, another cannabis-related shop opening in the neighborhood. 

The Goodies Shop is the latest entry ... coming soon to 324 Bowery near Bleecker... signage arrived last week...

This piece from Fortune on Friday has more about the city's unlicensed shops popping up all over the place.

The Goodies Shop takes over the space from Snack Bowery, which closed late last year.

Zee Convenience & Smoke debuts on Avenue A

Zee Convenience & Smoke is up and running now on the SE corner of Avenue A and 13th Street. (Thanks to Steven for the top photo.)

The signage notes that available goods here include CBD/hemp, beverages, e-cigarettes, snacks and hookah.... and, per this interior photo by Lola Sáenz, paper towels and cigars...

We understand that ownership here operates other shops, perhaps Zee Smoke & Convenience (not to be confused with Zee Convenience & Smoke) on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Caffè Bene closed here in December after nearly six years in business.

And as previously noted ... back in May, the owners of Keybar on 13th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue were looking to relocate here, but the application didn't make it past Community Board 3. 

East Village Exotics announces itself on Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Signage went up yesterday for East Village Exotics on the SE corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street. 

The owners also run East Village Finest Deli right across B... (and they plan to keep both businesses). 

Aside from the usual smoke-shoppy stuff, there will be some corner-market offerings when EVE opens in the next 1-2 weeks...

The previous tenant here, Your Desire For Food, quietly closed in early 2021 after six months in operation ... in the storefront in one of the most colorful buildings around...

The Green Room setting up a CBD shop on 9th Street

The Green Room, billed as New Jersey's largest CBD retail chain, is opening an outpost on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

One source on the block said the shop, featuring an assortment of CBD products ranging from meal replacement powders to pet treats, might be open as early as tomorrow. 

This marks the brand's second NYC branch, joining the one on Cornelia Street. 

The space at 314 E. Ninth St. was previously the first retail store for Eileen Fisher, opening in 1987 before officially shutting down back in February.

Thanks to Steven for the photo

Are you ready to Puff & Pass?

Another week, another incoming smoke shop. 

Signage went up on Saturday (H/T Steven!) for Puff & Pass at 50 Second Ave. adjacent to Proto Pizza at Third Street.

Puff & Pass joins other new like-minded businesses in the East Village, including Smokers Zone 1, Manhattan Smoke Shop, Higher Empire, Paint Puff 'N' Peace, Smart Smokers and Bong World. 

No. 50 was previously home to Cloud99 Vapes, which closed in early 2020. 

Noted

Smart Smokers has (quickly) opened at 143 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street... another smoke-related shop — one of many that have popped up around this neighborhood and others in recent months. 

The signage also changes colors...

The space was last Flamingos Vintage Pound, which closed for good during the pandemic. 

Thanks to Steven for the photos

Experiential CBD shop opens on 11th Street

Come Back Daily debuted this past Friday over at 516 E. 11th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.

EVG regular Gojira shared these photos of the shop that sells a range of products derived from CBD.



Come Back Daily, which also has outposts in Harlem and Tribeca, offers an educational component as well. Per their website:

Come Back Daily was created to solve the issue of misinformation surrounding the Cannabis plant. The community needs a specially curated place that is safe to learn and experience the benefits of CBD, can do for them.

Founder and cannabis expert Steve Phan worked for a CBD company where he noticed a need for peer to peer interaction. While operating the company’s live chat, even after extensive explanations and links to the product for them to purchase, individuals still wanted to come in and see/talk to someone physically.

And there are products...









Come Back Daily is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

This space on 11th Street was previously the 10 Thousand Steps Bookstore, the Hungarian speciality shop/gallery that is in the process of relocating.