A new crop of weed stores are preparing to pop up on the Upper West Side.
Community Board 7 met on Wednesday night to hear pitches from seven groups of cannabis entrepreneurs hoping to open up stores in the neighborhood. The board then voted to recommend for or against approving a license, ultimately deciding to approve six.
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However, it’s important to note that although they will be a factor in the final decision, these votes are only recommendations. The final call will be made by the Cannabis Control Board. That means that most, or none, of these shops could eventually end up opening regardless of what Community Board 7 says.
It’s also worth noting that not all of these shops will be opening because some of them applied to open at the same address. According to zoning restrictions, two cannabis dispensaries cannot be within 1,000 feet of each other, let alone in the same building. Shops also have to be at least 200 feet away from a house of worship and at least 500 feet away from a school.
Anyway, here are the addresses which may be home to weed shops in the near future:
- 2273 Broadway (between 81st and 82nd streets)
- 2465 Broadway (between 91st and 92nd streets)
- 230 West 105th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)
- 2742 Broadway (between 106th and 107th streets)
The meeting generated significant interest from the public, with nearly fifty people being turned away due to lack of space, according to CB7 District Manager Max Vandervliet. Instead, they were given instructions to log in virtually at home. Among the virtual attendees were Steve Anderson of the UWS Coalition, who expressed concern about the prevalence of unlicensed illegal cannabis stores already in the neighborhood.
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“There’s a lot of people going into all those illegal stores, and they’re not all over 18 years old,” Anderson said. “We don’t know what they’re selling, but they are in business, and they have flocked to our community. And despite all the chitchat and all the good words from a lot of good people, they are flourishing.”
Members of the community are able to submit their comments and concerns on the decisions here. The commenting period ends October 29 at 5 p.m.
The applications will be reviewed and voted on again at the upcoming full Community Board 7 meeting on November 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Why are there four cannabis stores on 72nd Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenue that have no license and the community board does nothing, the largest one is where Greens Cleaner the sign hasn’t been taken down for obvious reasons
Do you mean cannabis dispensaries? Because they are very different from illegal weed shops.
Excellent and one right next to my house. It could be easier especially for those cold winter months.
And the holidays are just around the corner.
Merry Christmas!
What happened to the entity submitted for West 98th & Broadway?
Do you mean “Best Buds” or the one 4 doors down?
On the flyers posted around the neighborhood a submission is for the old location of Lenny’s Bagels on the NW corner of 98th & Bway.
Upper Weed Side! Yay.
2742 Broadway is between 105th &106th St not 106th & 107th St.