After months of controversy and legal disputes, the first legal cannabis dispensary in Harlem opened its doors to customers on Wednesday. 

Gotham Buds celebrated its grand opening on West 125th Street in Manhattan –– just across the street from the historic Apollo Theater. 

According to CBS New York, the store is the “the 26th conditional adult-use retail dispensary to open in New York State,” as well as the first state-licensed dispensary to open in the iconic neighborhood with a rich history of music and the arts.

It has been a long road to opening for Gotham Buds, marked by fits and starts. 

A local business group, the 125th Street Business Improvement District, filed a lawsuit in April challenging the opening of the shop, contending that “the process was conducted secretly in order to avoid opposition from the community.” The group also raised concerns about the cannabis store’s location relative to a neighborhood school.

“We’ve taken this action to really create transparency and to create a channel of communication to understand why this location,” Mukaram Taheraly, the chairman of the 125th Street Business Improvement District, said then.

Barbara Askins, president of the 125th Street Business Improvement District, said that the group believes “this location is bad for our children.” 

But the lawsuit was dismissed in August after a “judge ruled the business across from the Apollo Theatre is exempt from an injunction blocking the Office of Cannabis Management from opening any other dispensaries while a lawsuit proceeds against its licensing program,” according to CBS New York.

The judge’s ruling set the stage for a grand opening that was tentatively scheduled for September 5, but the date was ultimately kicked to this week.

“Harlem isn’t just our location — it’s our community, our commitment. We’re here to grow roots and become a pillar of dreams realized,” Jeffrey Lopez, an owner of Gotham Buds, said in a statement, as quoted by the New York Daily News. “It’s all about passion, vision and a purpose bigger than ourselves.”

The state’s allocation of recreational cannabis dispensary licenses has drawn other legal challenges, too. In August, a New York judge slapped an injunction on the process, temporarily pausing the awarding of licenses after a lawsuit was filed by a group of veterans.

The veterans challenged the state’s policy of awarding the first round of licenses to individuals with prior pot-related convictions. 

That policy was announced last year by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“New York State is making history, launching a first-of-its-kind approach to the cannabis industry that takes a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past,” Hochul said in her announcement of the initiative. “The regulations advanced by the Cannabis Control Board today will prioritize local farmers and entrepreneurs, creating jobs and opportunity for communities that have been left out and left behind. I’m proud New York will be a national model for the safe, equitable and inclusive industry we are now building.”

According to the Daily News, the judge who heard the veterans’ case “ruled that the state’s Office of Cannabis Management had failed to comply with the court, undoing the exemption and leaving shops like Gotham Buds in limbo,” but that, “in yet another twist, Gotham Buds and four other dispensaries were cleared to open.”

More from the Daily News on Gotham Buds’ opening:

“Gotham Buds is now one of 11 legal pot shops in the five boroughs. However, there are thousands of unlicensed shops in the city that have ducked state rules and regulations to sell their ganja. The injunction was not the only hurdle the Harlem store had to jump through. Earlier this year, the dispensary faced intense community backlash and was slapped with a lawsuit from a local group of businesses who said the shop would attract crime, add to congestion and encourage drug use in an area already plagued with all three. The application window for nonconditional cannabis business licenses — for the general public — opened on Oct. 4 and will remain open until early December. The newly expanded program will take applications for new retail shops, farms, processing plants and microbusinesses.”

More than two years after New York legalized recreational cannabis for adults, the new legal weed market continues to take shape. 

The law was enacted by former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. After Cuomo stepped down amid allegations of sexual misconduct, he was succeeded by Hochul, who went right to work in getting the legal weed market up and running. 

Adult-use cannabis sales officially began in December, when the state’s first legal dispensary opened in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood.

“We set a course just nine months ago to start New York’s adult-use cannabis market off on the right foot by prioritizing equity, and now, we’re fulfilling that goal,” Hochul said in a statement at the time. “The industry will continue to grow from here, creating inclusive opportunity in every corner of New York State with revenues directed to our schools and revitalizing communities.”

The post Harlem’s First Dispensary Opens to Customers appeared first on High Times.

The post Harlem’s First Dispensary Opens to Customers appeared first on Paradise Found.

It is a celebratory time in one of New York City’s most historic neighborhoods, which will open its first legal marijuana dispensary next week. 

The dispensary, known as Gotham Buds, has a “tentative grand opening” scheduled on September 5 at its location just across the street from the iconic Apollo Theater, according to CBS New York.

The local news station noted that the opening of the business has faced “some pushback from the community.”

A Harlem-based business group called the 125th Street Business Improvement District filed a lawsuit in April with the New York Supreme Court, claiming that the “the process was conducted secretly in order to avoid opposition from the community.”

“We’ve taken this action to really create transparency and to create a channel of communication to understand why this location,” Mukaram Taheraly, chairman of the 125th Street Business Improvement District, said at the time, as quoted by CBS New York.

The station explained that it was “the first case challenging the process state regulators use to choose dispensary locations,” and that the lawsuit “accused the state of violating its own law against having a dispensary within 500 feet of a school, with Touro College, which teaches high school students, just a few doors away.”

But in a statement this week ahead of the scheduled opening of Gotham Buds, the 125th Street Business Improvement District hit a more welcoming note.

“We want all of our Harlem businesses to thrive, so we will do everything in our power to help make this be a success for Gotham Buds and our community,” the group said, as quoted by CBS New York.

New York legalized recreational cannabis for adults in 2021, when then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a measure into law. 

Many parts of the law took immediate effect, most notably the provision that enabled those 21 and older to have weed in their possession and to toke up wherever smoking is permitted. 

After Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct in August of that year, he was succeeded by Kathy Hochul, who made it a priority to get the regulated marijuana market up and running.

The state’s first legal marijuana dispensary opened in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood in December of last year.

“We set a course just nine months ago to start New York’s adult-use cannabis market off on the right foot by prioritizing equity, and now, we’re fulfilling that goal,” Hochul said in a statement at the time. “The industry will continue to grow from here, creating inclusive opportunity in every corner of New York State with revenues directed to our schools and revitalizing communities.”

Under an unprecedented social equity initiative, at least the first 100 dispensary licenses awarded in the Empire State are being awarded to individuals with previous cannabis-related convictions.

“New York State is making history, launching a first-of-its-kind approach to the cannabis industry that takes a major step forward in righting the wrongs of the past,” Hochul said in her announcement of the initiative last year. “The regulations advanced by the Cannabis Control Board today will prioritize local farmers and entrepreneurs, creating jobs and opportunity for communities that have been left out and left behind. I’m proud New York will be a national model for the safe, equitable and inclusive industry we are now building.”

Known as the Seeding Opportunity Initiative, the program “guarantees support for future equity applicants, and secures an early investment into communities most impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition,” the governor’s office said at the time.

“Our state’s Cannabis Law sets a high goal for creating an equitable industry that puts New Yorkers first,” Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright said in the announcement at the time. “The Seeding Opportunity Initiative puts us on a path for achieving that goal and hopefully models a way forward for reaching those goals while building a stable market. I am thankful for the support of Governor Hochul and the Legislature, which made it possible for us to get this initiative off the ground quickly, establish a supply chain from our farmers to equity, retailers, and generate the resources to help revitalize communities that were harmed by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition.” 

The allocation of dispensary licenses has so far been delayed by legal challenges. In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, a group of military veterans challenged the policy of awarding licenses to those with prior convictions. As a result of the lawsuit, a New York judge extended an injunction on the issuing of additional cannabis dispensary licenses until the matter reaches a resolution. 

“That pushes this from being late to the party to potentially exiled from the process,” Brian Burns, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said earlier this month.

“I don’t think you can quantify how being subjected to an unconstitutional program impacts a person,” Burns added.

The post Harlem Set To Open First Legal Dispensary appeared first on High Times.

The post Harlem Set To Open First Legal Dispensary appeared first on Paradise Found.

A battle is underway to fight a new dispensary from opening in Harlem at a site known for its place in music history.

CBS2 reports that plans are unfolding to open a dispensary in a building on 125th Street, across the street from the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.

The 125th Street Business Improvement District (BID) filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court. “We’ve taken this action to really create transparency and to create a channel of communication to understand why this location,” Mukaram Taheraly, chairman of the 125th Street BID, told CBS2.

According to the BID, state regulators colluded in secret in order to avoid pushback from the Harlem community, especially considering the importance of the location. “We just wanna know why the decision was taken really without consulting us,” Taheraly said.

The lawsuit also accuses the state of violating its own regulation barring dispensaries from opening within 500 feet of a school. In this case, they say the dispensary is too close to Touro College, a high school-aged school in the area. The lawsuit lists a total of 47 businesses that serve or cater to minors.

For a solution, the BID recommends that the dispensary opens inside the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building, which is owned by the state, so patrons can have a secure and a safe environment.

Crain’s New York Business reports that a sign hangs at the proposed location, indicating it was recently a COVID testing center.

Residents Recognize Apollo Theater in Music History

The Apollo Theater is no ordinary location: Since the swing era, it’s been synonymous with legendary Black musicians and performers. 

Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and comedians like Richard Pryor performed often at the theater. Other artists’ careers launched at the theater including Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross & The Supremes, Parliament-Funkadelic, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Jackson 5 and later Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Patti LaBelle, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Luther Vandross, The Isley Brothers, and the list goes on.

This could add to the reasons locals don’t want a dispensary directly across the street.

Some residents gave a balanced response when asked about the dispensary location. 

“They will have customers that feel like this is an establishment I can really go in and feel safe,” Harlem resident Breeze Fabre said.

“If they’re giving people jobs, I might come there and work,” another Harlem resident said.

“This is perhaps [a] situation where there is no right answer, but before we go forward, I think all the major stakeholders, their positions, should be considered,” Harlem resident Muna Heaven said.

Other residents are not so happy. “That’s the worst thing they can do,” Harlem resident Brenda Balthazar told ABC7. “Like right now a lot of things are happening on the train, and not only on the train but in neighborhoods.”

While the location is a few doors down from the Lazarus Children’s Clothing Store, there is also a tattoo parlor next door, and no one’s complaining about that.

The New York Cannabis Control Board approved 99 new licenses on April 3, increasing the total provisional retail dispensary licenses for Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries (CAURD) to 165.

The Cannabis Control Board wrote in a press release that the “licenses included four for Western New York, one for Central New York, five for mid-Hudson, and three for Brooklyn, marking the first provisional licenses to be issued in these regions following last week’s modification of a court injunction that had prevented the Board from issuing them.”

The post Battle Erupts Over Harlem Dispensary Across the Street from Apollo Theater appeared first on High Times.

The post Battle Erupts Over Harlem Dispensary Across the Street from Apollo Theater appeared first on Paradise Found.