Weed dispensary coming to Staten Island

Image
Weed dispensary coming to Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND - A Meiers Corners building will be home to a legal weed shop set to open in the coming months, the Advance/ SILive has learned.

The business — operating under the name NugHub NY, LLC — is owned by Michael Geterlman, a self-described lifelong Staten Islander, and it will open at 1975 Victory Blvd.

Gertelman, who didn’t return a request for an interview, presented his plan last week to Community Board 1 at the Salem Evangelical Free Church, West Brighton, and told those gathered that he expects to open in a few months.

“I am here to address people’s concerns about a cannabis dispensary opening on Staten Island. I want to assure you that we will be focused on safety and security,” he told the crowd. “Our products are strictly regulated by the state.”

For a little over 15 minutes, Gertelman fielded a series of questions from the audience about the hours his shop would operate, what security would look like at the site, and a bit about his background.

The store will be open 18 hours a day — though the hours haven’t been set yet — with security, strict identification check, and a strict prohibition on loitering, he said.

Gertelman is one of six holders of a Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary license, the state’s official name for its marijuana licenses handed out by the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).

The owner of the future Meiers Corners business is one of the justice-involved individuals the state selected for its early recreational weed licenses.

According to the OCM, those individuals had been convicted of a marijuana-related offense, are someone whose parent, spouse, child, legal guardian or dependent had been convicted of a weed-related offense, or are someone who is the dependent of a person who has been convicted of a marijuana-related offense in New York State before March 31, 2021.

Those justice-involved individuals also must have prior experience owning at least 10% of a business for at least two years. Gertelman said he is the owner of Black Tie Auto Leasing, a New Jersey-based company.

Despite his business venture’s New Jersey location, Gertelman said he has lived on Staten Island his whole life, and said he grew up near where the shop will be opening.

The location is also home to a Puff City location, a franchise that sells products containing CBD and Delta-8, which the Food and Drug Administration describes as a psychoactive substance found in the cannabis sativa plant, of which marijuana and hemp are two varieties. Puff City did not respond to an emailed request for comment by the time of publication.

While no shops have yet to open on Staten Island, several have opened up around the city and in other parts of New York.

DISPENSARY COMING TO THE SOUTH SHORE

Mohammed Elgaly told Community Board 3, which covers the South Shore, in March that he will be opening a dispensary called Case420 at 3022 Veterans Rd. West in Charleston.

The slow rollout of the state’s legal marijuana program spurred OCM to make some changes to the rules around the program, which the Cannabis Control Board approved in November.

One of the biggest changes was allowing current medical cannabis operators to begin selling adult-use recreational weed after Dec. 29, 2023 – two years earlier than initially planned.

The operators will be able to open second and third co-located stores after June 29, 2024. There are currently 10 operators in New York with medical cannabis licenses, including Be, in New Dorp.

For more Cannabis News like this, circle back to 420intel.com!

 

420 Intel News | 420 Advertising | Cannabis Business News | Medical Marijuana News | Recreational Marijuana News

Region: New York

Disqus content widget