New Yorkers Flock to the City’s First Legal Weed Store
From celebrity appearances to sneaker releases, New Yorkers are used to standing in very long lines. But yesterday afternoon in Manhattan’s Astor Place, something new brought hundreds of people to the streets: the state’s very first legal recreational weed sales.
Though cannabis possession and (limited) public consumption were OK’d for adults by the city last year, the first licenses took months to be awarded. This was partly because the state approached the new market from a social equity standpoint, giving first dibs to candidates who had either been directly affected by the war on drugs, or who were set up to give back to that community. So it made sense that longtime nonprofit Housing Works — which operates thrift and bookstores throughout the city, providing jobs and services to the unhoused as well as people suffering from addiction or HIV/AIDS — was responsible for opening the city’s first legal dispensary. “We see the effects of drug criminalization everyday,” Housing Works CEO Charles King tells Rolling Stone, adding that they plan to start a program to help “justice-involved” individuals with drug convictions get licensed for the new industry.
As for the question of whether or not New Yorkers — who currently have access to the most robust cannabis black market in the country, if not the world — would be willing to pay a premium for legal weed, those at the event saw the turnout as a good sign. “People were saying [New Yorkers] didn’t want legal weed,” says Trivette Knowles, spokesperson for the New York State Office of Cannabis Management. “[But] for safe, legal weed — New York will be the place to go.”
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Line Up
Ken Woodin came from Ocean Hill, Brooklyn to be first in line for the pot shop opening, getting there at about noon — more than four hours before doors. Though he has no problem finding weed in the city, being there was still a priority. “Who doesn’t want to be a part of history?” he asks.
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Up In Smoke
As lines began streching around the block ahead of the 4:20 opening time, people kept themselves busy in the unseasonably balmy afternoon by partaking in their favorite plant.
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One Happy Customer
Daron Hudson, a Housing Works board member who had been guarding the door earlier in the day, was the first to purchase cannabis that afternoon. His choice? A pack of mini-joints from local weed brand Lobo Cannagar.
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On Display
Housing Works only had a few weeks to prepare to be the first recreational dispensary in the state — and, according to CEO Charles King, finding brands that could provide tested product was the biggest challenge. “Part of the problem was the lab controls,” he says. “It’s important but very time consuming.” They were able to track down six brands for the soft opening, but expect there to be many more in the coming months.
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Taking Off
Trivette Knowles was on hand to represent the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, the entity in charge of the new market. He was pleased with the turnout, saying it showed just how much New Yorkers want access to tested, regulated weed.
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Rules, Rules, Rules
Just because weed is legally for sale in New York doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all — throughout the new dispensary, sinage reminds customers that it’s still a drug that can affect your body and your perception, and should be used with care.
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Always Accessorize
The new Housing Works dispensary also features accessories, such as these ceramic bowls and rolling trays from women-owned, New York-based luxury brand House of Puff.
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Smoking in the Covid Age
As eager customers waited in line, clever entrepreneurs walked up and down the block, showing off their contraptions. Rob Rota, from Yonkers, New York, was smoking people out with his FreshTag419, a motorized pipe that blows smoke, eliminating the need to put one’s lips on the device. He made it with his father, after they were inspired by the elder Rota’s near-death trip to the hospital in the early days of Covid-19. “He saw where the market was going,” Rob says.
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Eyes on the Prize
Housing Works CEO Charles King sees the dispensary as just another way for his nonprofit to give back to the communities it serves — but the rush to open in time for the Dec. 31 deadline meant there’s still a lot of work to be done. Some remaining tasks are aesthetic — the buildout is nowhere near finished — but others, like the training programs they hope to set up to get previous cannabis offenders trained in the market, have to do with a bigger cause.
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Patiently Waiting
The line wrapped entirely around the block. According to King, almost 2,000 people had RSVP’d for the event. And though they weren’t checking tickets, it was evident just how much people wanted safe, legal weed.
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Always Come Prepared
Joe Pipe (also known as Concert Joe) wasn’t there to purchase, but he was there to partake. “I’m just here to smoke at 4:20,” he told Rolling Stone.
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Let Us In
A crush of people and media trying to enter the store jsut as doors were opening. The new dispensary, housed in a former Gap store on Broadway in Downtown Manhattan, will be just the first of many legal weed stores to open across the city in the coming months.