Statis Cannabis Co., the first recreational cannabis dispensary in the Bronx, opened its doors in Crotona Thursday as other competitors across the borough prepare to set up shop.
And while the dispensary owners say their newly opened 817 E. Tremont Ave. location is only temporary, they’re giving mixed signals to the community.
The company will relocate to a permanent storefront that will open within about four months in the Mt. Eden section of the borough at 1412 Jerome Ave., co-owner Emily Chavez told the Bronx Times.
“Our original location is under construction right now and we wanted to open up cannabis retail as soon as we could,” she said. “So we decided to open up a temporary space.”
Ellen Mellody, a Statis spokesperson, told the Bronx Times that dispensaries have been opening up pop-up locations “to cut down on the bottlenecking” of licensees waiting to open.
Chavez and her co-owner Angel Turuseta opened the doors to Statis Cannabis Co. at — you guessed it — 4:20 p.m. on Thursday. The family-friend partners obtained their license through the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary program, for which applicants either had a prior cannabis conviction in New York state or are related to someone who had one, and have also owned a profitable business for at least two years. Nonprofits with a history of working with the formerly incarcerated are also eligible.
Turuseta, who is the justice-involved applicant, owned and operated A & F Fashion, an NYC-based bargain wholesale vendor for sportswear and leisure wear. Turuseta was unavailable for an interview Thursday, but according to Chavez, he is from the Bronx, was arrested for marijuana possession when he was younger, and now lives in Riverdale.
Chavez, who works as a school teacher in Bergen County, New Jersey, lives in the Garden State with her husband Christian Chavez, who is CEO of the dispensary.
Emely Chavez had the idea for…
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