Bud Snub: Manhattan Snags Only One Of 38 New Dispensary Licenses Handed Out By NYS

Manhattan received only one of the new 38 adult-use retail cannabis licenses handed out statewide on Feb. 16, which were announced by New York Governor Kathy Hochul. They were included as part of an immense package of 109 licenses, which are also granted to the other relevant cogs of the cannabis industry: cultivators, processors, and distributors.

The Office of Cannabis Management, the state agency responsible for the licenses, told Straus News that Blue Forest Farms Dispensary LLC was the lucky recipient. It is unclear where the dispensary will be located, although the LLC does share a name with an existing hemp and CBD “gallery” located on Madison Ave., near Rockefeller Center and Grand Central Terminal. (Hemp, a variety of cannabis distinct from marijuana, does not contain enough THC to create a psychoactive high).

Manhattan has 12 legally licensed cannabis stores, a number which will now seemingly tick up to 13. The number of unlicensed and therefore illegal dispensaries in the borough, however, reportedly reaches into the thousands.

The governor’s office proudly noted that the state had tripled the amount of “operating cannabis retailers in the last two months.” The state reportedly now has 70 adult-use dispensaries, whether delivery-only or storefront-oriented.

”We anticipate exponential growth for New York’s cannabis industry in 2024. In the last six weeks alone, we’ve more than doubled the amount of open dispensaries across the state, and in the next few months we’ll more than double the total amount of licenses issued in the last two years. I remain inspired by these incredible entrepreneurs across the state who are leading the way for New York cannabis,” Cannabis Control Board chair Tremaine Wright said.

According to the governor, 25 more statewide retail licenses are expected to come down the pipeline in the coming days. It is not specified whether any of those will be open in Manhattan. Other boroughs saw more action on Feb. 16, with Queens receiving 8 new retail licenses.

”For every applicant eager to get a license, or worried they won’t get selected this round, I want to preach patience. We’re building this market in a thoughtful and methodical way, and we’re working to avoid traps we’ve seen cause stumbles in other markets that have disproportionately harmed smaller operators,” said Office of Cannabis Management Executive Director Chris Alexander.

All of the lucky applicants had applied by a Nov. 17 deadline. They also reportedly had “storefronts under their control,” indicating that Blue Forest Farms LLC may open a adult-use dispensary next to their existing hemp store.

The OCM also announced that New York’s pot industry had netted $183 million in sales since it was legalized for recreational use, $174 million of which came from retail storefronts. December 2023 was reportedly a record month, with $27 million in sales.

However, as The City pointed out in a recent investigative piece, New York’s legal bud trade is currently dwarfed by the $2 billion a year that unlicensed stores reportedly pull in. The OCM said that it had levied over $25 million in fines on these shops last year, but the state collected only 1.4 percent of the outstanding levies–or about $22,500. Furthermore, The Office of Taxation and Finance collected $0 in fines from illegal shops, The City found.