Chelsea’s First Legal Recreational Weed Store Opens for Business on 1/26

Verdi Cannabis, the Chelsea neighborhood’s first legally licensed recreational cannabis store, opened at 158 W. 23rd St. on Jan. 26. CBD-infused hot chocolate was on offer. Bagels & cream cheese were eagerly consumed. A green ribbon was placed at the entrance (Verdi means “green” in Italian).

The store was dreamed up by Ellis Soodak, a former quantitative analyst. He’s going into business with his father, Mitchell Soodak. The elder Soodak, a liquor store owner known for running Union Square Wine & Spirits, has quite the history with marijuana.

As the younger Soodak was happy to explain to the gathered crowd, his dad used to deal weed at Stony Brook University–out of a suitcase–around 52 years ago. “They ended up getting busted. They threw a party, and they got a little too rowdy. They were facing felony charges,” he said.

At this point, Mitchell Soodak’s very-much-in-trouble friends turned out to be not so friendly: they decided to “throw him under the bus,” namely because the suitcase had his name on it. Mitchell called his own father (and Ellis’s grandfather), asking to be bailed out. The Soodak patriarch promised that things would be addressed in the morning.

Instead, tragedy struck. Mitchell Soodak woke up on that fateful morning, Ellis said, and got a call that his dad has just had a stroke and died. There will be no bail. Luckily, a judge took Mitchell’s loss into account and did not give him any jail time. “Two years later, my dad dropped out of college and opened his first liquor store. For 50 years, he’s been one of the most successful liquor store owners in this entire state,” Ellis noted.

“We have the opportunity, father and son, to come together and do what he and his dad never got to do–open a business. I couldn’t be more honored to have that opportunity.”

At this point, Mitchell himself took the mic, where he said that he was in a “new role in his life.” Specifically, he will “be in the background.” He added that, over the course of his career in the liquor industry, “everybody knew that he was the boss. Now, my son is the boss.” He concluded that it was an “amazing feeling to have your son follow in your footsteps, and take it another step further.”

District 75 State Assembly Member Tony Simone showed up as well. He gave a speech blessing Verdi Cannabis, saying that he has always been a “long supporter of legalizing the cannabis industry.” Therefore, he said that the store was a good step in “speeding up” the legal market, especially since it follows “the rules.”

Simone said Verdi Cannabis will ensure the “safety and security” of “customers and the community” by being legally licensed. He contrasted this with the unlicensed market, which is “not following the rules” by not adhering to state regulations.

”This is a celebratory day,” he said, before wishing Verdi Cannabis good luck. In a wisecrack that elicited plenty of laughter, the politician said that believed it would be the first legal store of many in Chelsea, but that they would hopefully “not be near yours.” As of now, however, the tenacious Soodaks have a head start on capturing the cannabis market in Chelsea.