{"id":116783,"date":"2025-08-03T23:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T23:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/116783\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T23:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T23:32:09","slug":"pot-peddler-forced-to-abruptly-yank-plan-for-nyc-shop-over-latest-state-debacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/116783\/","title":{"rendered":"Pot peddler forced to abruptly yank plan for NYC shop over latest state debacle"},"content":{"rendered":"

A cannabis peddler planning to open a licensed pot store on Manhattan\u2019s East Side was forced to abruptly pull its application last week thanks to the latest state debacle <\/a>over the process.<\/p>\n

Joshua Gleiber, the owner of HF Dispensary LLC, sent a note to Community Board 6 on July 31 requesting that his application to open a cannabis dispensary at 998-1000 First Ave. between East 54th and 55th Streets be removed from its agenda because of controversy over the state rule governing how close such shops can be to schools.<\/p>\n

A sign outside a smoke shop advertises THC and CBD gummies, carts, edibles, and flower. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The state Office of Cannabis Management last week sent notices to 100 operators of licensed dispensaries now telling them they cannot legally operate in their current location because New York regulators incorrectly calculated <\/a>how far they were from schools and churches.<\/p>\n

The OCM had ruled in recent years that the locations complied with its 500-foot-distance requirement between shops and schools.<\/p>\n

The measurement used was the distance from the entrance of a cannabis shop to the entrance of a school.<\/p>\n

Gov. Hochul at a cannabis enforcement announcement, with a New York State Licensed Cannabis Dispensary sign. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n

But OCM Executive Director Felicia Reid then said last week that those rulings were made in error.<\/p>\n

The 500-feet rule should be measured from the entrance of a licensed pot store to the beginning of the property line or boundary of a school or 200 feet from a house of worship.<\/p>\n

That means, through no fault of their own, the pot merchants are now out of compliance with the law.<\/p>\n

Sign reading \u201cIt\u2019s 4:20 Somewhere\u201d with marijuana leaf illustrations. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n

The snafu is just the latest glitch with the problem-riddled program, which has suffered from everything from lack of enforcement against rogue shops to major lags in licensing times \u2014 with even Gov. Kathy Hochul calling its rollout a \u201cdisaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease withdraw our application from the hearing this evening,\u201d Gleiber wrote to the local community board, which reviews cannabis store locations within its jurisdiction. \u201cWe are sorry for the late notice, but we just received a communication from the OCM that the location we were applying about is not compliant with the new interpretation of the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs previously stated we will not proceed if the location was not legally permissible under the NYS Cannabis Laws and Regulations,\u201d the letter added.<\/p>\n

Gov. Hochul speaking at a cannabis enforcement announcement. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n

CB6 coordinator Brian Laffery subsequently asked Gleiber for clarification on whether he was completely \u201cwithdrawing\u201d the application for the pot store on First Avenue.<\/p>\n

Gleiber said the fate of the project is up in the air.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can tell you that I do not plan to appear\/present at tonight\u2019s Business Affairs & Licensing Committee meeting, so I can be taken off the agenda,\u201d Gleiber said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease know I am not trying to be difficult or evasive in answering your questions. The OCM gave me several options, none of which talks about me withdrawing my Notice to Municipality [application],\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Neon marijuana leaf sign that says \u201cWhere the Fun Begins.\u201d ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still considering my next steps which include, but are not limited to, proceeding with opening a dispensary where I am already licensed or deciding if I will be submitting a different alternative location application in the boundaries of Community Board Six or otherwise in the state. Thus, I do not want to negatively impact myself by withdrawing the Notice to Municipality, until I get guidance from OCM or our attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n

HF Dispensary has signed a 10-year lease at the location and invested a substantial sum to prepare for its opening. <\/p>\n

CB6\u2019s Business Affairs and Licensing Committee, during its meeting last week, voted against the proposed location anyway. The committee drafted a resolution urging the full CB6 to oppose the location, citing neighborhood opposition.<\/p>\n

Street view of a closed cannabis dispensary, Smoke Stars, located between 54th and 55th streets. Google maps<\/p>\n

In its draft resolution, CB6 said the HF Dispensary is actually only 215 feet in a straight-line measurement from The Montessori School of New York International \u2014 a pre-school, kindergarten, elementary and junior high school for students ages 2 to 14 at 347 E. 55th St.<\/p>\n

The proposed pot-store location is also just 177 feet from the New York Kids Club, a private, licensed pre-school at 401 E. 55th St.<\/p>\n

Hochul vowed that pot merchants won\u2019t be punished for a \u201cbureaucratic screw-up\u201d committed by one of her state agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to stand up for them. Will find a path forward. Don\u2019t worry,\u201d Hochul said on ABC 7\u2019s \u201cUp Close With Bill Ritter\u201d program on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want anyone who who worked so hard, who put their heart and soul into their business into their business to be subjected to something for a bureaucratic screwup with real life consequences,\u201d Hochul said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cannabis peddler planning to open a licensed pot store on Manhattan\u2019s East Side was forced to abruptly…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":116784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1749,5371,3344,46601,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-116783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cannabis","10":"tag-kathy-hochul","11":"tag-marijuana","12":"tag-marijuana-legalization","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-news","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114967448337600676","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}