Recently, state authorities began accepting applications for legal dispensaries in New York from the general public. Greenwich Village is the most popular neighborhood for up-and-coming legal pot dealers; recent weeks have seen dozens of applicants file to open up dispensaries in the area.
A survey conducted by the New York Post showed that there had been at least 460 pot-permit applications filed throughout the city since Oct. 4th. Seventy-seven of these had been filed in the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, Soho, and Chinatown.
Fifty-one-year-old Muhammed Akmal, owner of New University Pen & Stationery, says, “There’s New York University, and with the students, it’s easy money – and obviously this neighborhood has money.”
Midtown has also received its fair share of applicants, with at least 41 filing to open; Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn had 35, and the Upper East Side, 25.
Before applications were opened to the general public, you could only apply if you had a record of drug-related criminal convictions, were a relative of someone with drug-related convictions, or were a non-profit that served convicts or ex-cons.
The rollout of legal cannabis in New York State, which began last December, has proved difficult for the administration to deploy effectively; only 11 legal dispensaries have opened throughout the five boroughs, while an estimated 1,500 smoke shops continue to operate unsanctioned.
These illegal operations face the prospect of daily fines that can reach upwards of $20,000, and while enforcement has thus far been lax, new efforts are being made to uphold the regulations in an effort to push legal outlets.
Sarah Raffetto, a local who co-owns a long-standing pasta shop on Houston Street, said, “I support the idea as a whole, but I don’t want our neighborhood turned into ‘Weedtown.’ It’s like the next iteration of Starbucks where they’re everywhere.”
Others pleaded with lawmakers and the state’s Office of Cannabis Management to consider capping how many dispensaries can be approved within a single district.
David Gruber, head of the Carmine Street Block Association, said “We’re a historic neighborhood with a lot of residences, and the state has to be smart in the distribution of legal licenses if that’s what they want to do.”
