Court Case Holds Up Marijuana Stores in Westchester
By Dan Murphy
The first, legal, non-medical marijuana dispensary will open in lower Manhattan today, Dec. 29. Housing Works Cannabis Co., located at 750 Broadway, near Astor Place and Washington Square Park, will be selling marijuana products starting at 4:20pm today, and daily from 11am-7pm. Cash payments only are accepted for the time being. Housing Works is a non-profit that assists persons involved in the criminal justice system.
The opening validates Governor Kathy Hochul’s promise that New York will start selling, and taxing, marijuana by the end of the year. Other marijuana stores and cafes will open in early 2023.
Last month, the NYS Office of Cannabis Management awarded 36 licenses, to 28 Justice-involved individuals & 8 Nonprofit organizations, to sell marijuana grown in New York State, at 223 farms.
OCM Director Chris Alexander said, “Not only have we ended the prohibition in New York, but we’re showing the nation, and the world, how to build a market that’s truly equitable and inclusive, and works to undo the harms caused by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition. Every dollar spent in this growing industry will help support independent businesses, our schools, and our communities.”
OCM received more than 900 applications for licenses to sell, and plans on approving 150 in 2023. NY State issued 37 recreational cannabis licenses, 13 in New York City and 3 in the Bronx, closest to Westchester.
No licenses were awarded to applicants from Westchester, Putnam or Rockland Counties, because of a lawsuit filed by a company outside of New York State. The lawsuit claims that round one of the licensing process, which grants licenses to applicants from NY only, is unconstitutional.
Variscite NY One, Inc. filed the lawsuit and applied for OCM licenses in the mid-hudson region which includes Westchester, Brooklyn and other upstate locations. A federal judge has issued a restraining order barring OCM from granting licenses in those communities.
OCM has filed an appeal to the restraining order, which affects more than 50 licenses to sell marijuana. As a result of the lawsuit, OCM did not announce the recipients of licenses in Westchester or Putnam when they announced the 36 other licenses last month.
But several Westchester communities have already opted out of allowing marijuana stores or cafes to open in their communities. According to the Rockefeller tracker, 23 Westchester local governments have opted out. They are:
Ardsley, Bronxville, Eastchester, Elmsford, Irvington, Larchmont, Lewisboro, Mamaroneck Town, Mamaroneck Village, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Castle, North Salem, Pelham Manor, Pleasantville, Port Chester, Rye City, Rye Brook, Somers, Tuckahoe, Yorktown and Harrison.
And according to the tracker, the Westchester cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Yonkers and the Town of Pound Ridge and the Village of Sleepy Hollow will permit both cafes and dispensiaries. The Town of Greenburgh will allow stores but not cafes.
So when and if the lawsuit is resolved, the only place in Westchester where stores and cafes can open will be in the seven communities listed above, and we will report on that when it happens.
