Customers line up at Statis, the Bronx’s first legal recreational dispensary, in early July.
Photo ET Rodriguez
A proposal for a recreational marijuana dispensary in Pelham Parkway received unanimous approval from Community Board 11’s Economic Development Committee last week, paving the way for the full board to vote on the application this Thursday.
The hybrid monthly meeting, which took place on Wednesday, Oct. 18, mainly consisted of conversation regarding the status of Freshly Baked NYC, whose storefront would be located at 2152-2154 White Plains Road in the Bronx if the state-sanctioned application receives all its necessary approvals.
David Nicponski, Freshly Baked NYC’s CEO and co-founder, who received his legal conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) license in early April, filed for the initial application in September 2022.
More than a year later, Freshly Baked is yet to open, however, following an ongoing process that has already included entity formation, application filing, provisional licensure and finding a suitable location, as well as obtaining a vote for application approval by the state’s Cannabis Control Board.
Adult recreational use of marijuana was legalized by New York state in early spring of 2021, with the state’s first dispensary, Housing Works Cannabis Co., opening in the East Village just a few days before the start of 2023.
Applicants must have either had a prior cannabis conviction in New York state or be related to someone who had one, and also have owned a profitable business for at least two years. Nonprofits with a history of working with the formerly incarcerated are also eligible.
Nicponski, who is from Holley in upstate New York and has been arrested for marijuana possession as a teenager, told the Bronx Times that Freshly Baked NYC initially also applied for additional locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens — using the strategy of spreading applications across multiple…
Read the full article here
