New York Stories<\/strong><\/h4>\nOne day, he set up shop in Greenwich Village\u2019s Washington Square Park; he brought 12 joints and some takeout sushi to smoke and people-watch. Known as the city\u2019s traditional outdoor marijuana marketplace and frequent stage for standoffs with police in the past, the park was filled with a reception line of weed sellers, weed aficionados and curious park dwellers, all strolling up to say hello, chop it up and compare strains.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the best fucking time I\u2019ve had in years,\u201d said Berner<\/a>, who rewarded the park crew with a care package of a stack of pizzas and piles of VIBES rolling papers, one of his product lines. \u201cI\u2019d say my favorite people to get high with are New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\nThat endorsement portends a market shift: The cannabis industry\u2019s favorite people to sell cannabis to, and partner with, are now New Yorkers. Who would have thought that was possible?<\/p>\n
\n![\"Berner](\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/new-york-city-the-new-cannabis-industry-hq.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFor years a West Coast thing, legal cannabis is now a national game. But until federal legalization \u2014 and with it, the all-important interstate commerce component \u2014 the market is all about dominance in individual states. And with New York\u2019s cannabis market worth nearly $6 billion, and with some 66 million<\/a> annual visitors to New York City alone during non-pandemic years, no greater prize exists in the U.S. larger than the Empire State.<\/p>\nThis logic dictates that any cannabis brand with national or global ambitions needs a foothold in New York. And so Berner\u2019s Manhattan vacation became a de-facto scouting mission, the same pilgrimage that other investors and entrepreneurs in the cannabis space also undertook in the second half of 2021.<\/p>\n
Because if a brand can make it in New York, they can make it anywhere \u2014 even outside the U.S. It sounds cringe, but it\u2019s true: Legalization in New York, the home of the United Nations, where a community of people from every nation and creed on the planet can be found, means legalization everywhere else on Earth is possible. It\u2019s a global race now, and the Big Apple is the logical headquarters \u2014 for Cookies and for everyone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cHell, yeah, I want to be in New York!,\u201d Berner says, happily, confirming the summer\u2019s worst-kept real-estate secret: Cookies is coming to town, and they want it all. \u201cWe\u2019re just looking for the right opportunity. We want to have the best quality flower possible, and we have to have a legendary storefront. It has to be designed differently from any other store we have. I want to do the hiring myself, and I want to find the dopest, coolest people to represent us in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n
To add the cherry on top of the proverbial NYC cheesecake, Berner says, \u201cI\u2019m fired up about the New York market opportunity. It reminds me a lot of Cali in the early 2000s.\u201d Cover up your ears, California: That one\u2019s going to leave a mark.<\/p>\n
Exactly what final form that opportunity will take remains to be seen. There\u2019s speculation around whether or not the barrier for entry will allow the state\u2019s vast traditional market to compete with the country\u2019s existing billion-dollar, publicly traded multi-state operators (MSOs) who hold most of New York\u2019s medical-marijuana licenses<\/a> and are all but certain to be first in line to start selling adult-use cannabis.<\/p>\nAs of late September, the state had yet to issue final regulations, in part due to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s hesitation to fill necessary regulatory committees. New Gov. Kathy Hochul appears intent on making up for lost time by appointing Chris Alexander<\/a>, a former drug-policy reform attorney, as executive director of the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.<\/p>\n?<\/a> \u2764\ufe0f NY<\/h4>\nNew York has also received near-universal acclaim for what\u2019s considered the most progressive, consumer-friendly legalization scheme in the U.S., with ambitious promises that its \u201csocial equity\u201d program \u2014 with grants funded in part by cannabis sales taxes \u2014 will create opportunities for small entrepreneurs and BIPOC people that haven\u2019t materialized in other states, where the cannabis industry is still mostly controlled by white people.<\/p>\n
Only time will tell if New York\u2019s permit fees and zoning rules will be amenable to wide-open competition or protect the big boy\u2019s market share. The deluge of interest is so intense that it may not be premature to declare New York City the current-and-next capital of the U.S. cannabis industry. Sorry, L.A., Denver, who?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve definitely noticed some of the larger West Coast brands looking to do stuff in New York,\u201d said Matte Namer, a Manhattan native and real-estate developer who founded Cannabeta Realty<\/a>, a real-estate brokerage focused specifically on the cannabis space. \u201cRetailers, especially, appear eager to have a brand presence in New York City. I\u2019ve been saying this for a while now, but cannabis coming to New York is something the movement and the industry haven\u2019t seen anything comparable to yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
That endorsement portends a market shift: The cannabis industry\u2019s favorite people to sell cannabis to, and partner with, are now New Yorkers. Who would have thought that was possible?<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFor years a West Coast thing, legal cannabis is now a national game. But until federal legalization \u2014 and with it, the all-important interstate commerce component \u2014 the market is all about dominance in individual states. And with New York\u2019s cannabis market worth nearly $6 billion, and with some 66 million<\/a> annual visitors to New York City alone during non-pandemic years, no greater prize exists in the U.S. larger than the Empire State.<\/p>\n This logic dictates that any cannabis brand with national or global ambitions needs a foothold in New York. And so Berner\u2019s Manhattan vacation became a de-facto scouting mission, the same pilgrimage that other investors and entrepreneurs in the cannabis space also undertook in the second half of 2021.<\/p>\n Because if a brand can make it in New York, they can make it anywhere \u2014 even outside the U.S. It sounds cringe, but it\u2019s true: Legalization in New York, the home of the United Nations, where a community of people from every nation and creed on the planet can be found, means legalization everywhere else on Earth is possible. It\u2019s a global race now, and the Big Apple is the logical headquarters \u2014 for Cookies and for everyone else.<\/p>\n \u201cHell, yeah, I want to be in New York!,\u201d Berner says, happily, confirming the summer\u2019s worst-kept real-estate secret: Cookies is coming to town, and they want it all. \u201cWe\u2019re just looking for the right opportunity. We want to have the best quality flower possible, and we have to have a legendary storefront. It has to be designed differently from any other store we have. I want to do the hiring myself, and I want to find the dopest, coolest people to represent us in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n To add the cherry on top of the proverbial NYC cheesecake, Berner says, \u201cI\u2019m fired up about the New York market opportunity. It reminds me a lot of Cali in the early 2000s.\u201d Cover up your ears, California: That one\u2019s going to leave a mark.<\/p>\n Exactly what final form that opportunity will take remains to be seen. There\u2019s speculation around whether or not the barrier for entry will allow the state\u2019s vast traditional market to compete with the country\u2019s existing billion-dollar, publicly traded multi-state operators (MSOs) who hold most of New York\u2019s medical-marijuana licenses<\/a> and are all but certain to be first in line to start selling adult-use cannabis.<\/p>\n As of late September, the state had yet to issue final regulations, in part due to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s hesitation to fill necessary regulatory committees. New Gov. Kathy Hochul appears intent on making up for lost time by appointing Chris Alexander<\/a>, a former drug-policy reform attorney, as executive director of the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.<\/p>\n New York has also received near-universal acclaim for what\u2019s considered the most progressive, consumer-friendly legalization scheme in the U.S., with ambitious promises that its \u201csocial equity\u201d program \u2014 with grants funded in part by cannabis sales taxes \u2014 will create opportunities for small entrepreneurs and BIPOC people that haven\u2019t materialized in other states, where the cannabis industry is still mostly controlled by white people.<\/p>\n Only time will tell if New York\u2019s permit fees and zoning rules will be amenable to wide-open competition or protect the big boy\u2019s market share. The deluge of interest is so intense that it may not be premature to declare New York City the current-and-next capital of the U.S. cannabis industry. Sorry, L.A., Denver, who?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve definitely noticed some of the larger West Coast brands looking to do stuff in New York,\u201d said Matte Namer, a Manhattan native and real-estate developer who founded Cannabeta Realty<\/a>, a real-estate brokerage focused specifically on the cannabis space. \u201cRetailers, especially, appear eager to have a brand presence in New York City. I\u2019ve been saying this for a while now, but cannabis coming to New York is something the movement and the industry haven\u2019t seen anything comparable to yet.\u201d<\/p>\n?<\/a> \u2764\ufe0f NY<\/h4>\n