A second New York dispensary is set to open in Manhattan more than two weeks after the state saw its first legal adult-use sale.
The “Union Square Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store,” will be located at the former home of an old Chase bank on the corner of Broadway and East 13th Street, across from the Union Square subway station.
The store plans to open in February, but have a soft opening on Friday at a facility with an entrance at 62 East 13th St. while the main 5,000-square-foot space is being built out.
Of the proceeds, 51% will go to the Doe Fund, which provides housing, career training and counseling to marginalized populations in New York City. Additionally, the store will only sell products cultivated in the state with a focus on women and BIPOC-owned businesses.
The dispensary will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends, seven days a week.
The first legal adult-use dispensary opened Dec. 28 in Manhattan at a former Gap retail store in lower Manhattan near Astor Place. The historic opening marked a long-awaited launch of a state marijuana market that many analysts project could become one of the country’s most promising.
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York then missed its Dec. 30 deadline to report to the governor, the legislature and the public on its status and details about the social equity program and its relationship with the firm it selected as a fund manager. A DASNY spokesperson told NY Cannabis Insider last week that the agency “will have the report out soon.”
The New York Office of Cannabis Management, also extended the license application window for marijuana testing labs to March 31, from its originally scheduled closure of New Year’s Eve. Chris Alexander, the executive director of the OCM, told the Cannabis Control Board at a public meeting in December that adding that the state is still looking for top-notch lab candidates.
“That is a cornerstone of the market that we’re building,” he said.
Alexander also said that the state is rolling out more resources to support the legal marijuana market and to suppress the thriving illicit trade, including:
- A public education campaign called “Why Buy Legal New York.”
- A new verification emblem to be displayed by licensed retailers.
- Ongoing enforcement against unlicensed retailers, including the seizure of more than $4 million in illegal cannabis products from 53 locations by the New York City Sheriff’s joint task force.
