Legal Weed In NYC: Here's The Recreational Dispensary List

NEW YORK CITY, NY — Where is all the legal weed in New York City? The short answer is near Union Square, mostly.

While hundreds of smoke shops have been popping up across the five boroughs, there were just four licensed recreational dispensaries in New York City listed on the state Cannabis Management office's website as of April 11.

More are on the way, but the current situation has raised a lot of questions about buying cannabis in New York City.

To help you sort through the bureaucratic weeds (pun originally unintentional, we promise), Patch has provided some answers.

Where can I buy legal weed from licensed dispensaries in New York City?

The New York Office of Cannabis Management has issued licenses to the following businesses, in operation as of May 11:

• Housing Works Cannabis: 750 Broadway in Manhattan
• Smacked Village: 144 Bleecker St. in Manhattan
• Union Square Travel Agency: 62 E. 13th St. in Manhattan
• Gotham: 3 E. Third St. in Manhattan
• Good Grades: 162-03 Jamaica Ave. in Queens

But these number could soon change as the state recently approved 99 new cannabis dispensary licenses in a move advocates called "historic."

Of the 99 new licenses approved on April 3, 21 were approved in Manhattan, three in Staten Island, nine in The Bronx , 17 in Queens and 4 in Brooklyn.

More exact locations for the dispensaries were not yet known, according to Aaron Ghitelman, Deputy Director of Communications for the Office of Cannabis Management.

We'll update this page when we find out.

Where can I buy legal weed in New York State?

Schenectady, Ithaca and Binghamton also house legal dispensaries. In the whole state, only seven dispensaries are operating legally, according to an online database from the state's Office of Cannabis Management.

What's with the smoke shops not on this list?

Unclear! New York City Sheriff Miranda Anthony Miranda testified to the City Council in January that 1,400 illegal dispensaries had opened in New York City.

Mayor Eric Adams followed up with promises of a crackdown in Manhattan, and Miranda announced later his office had seized about $262,000 in merchandise from unlicensed sellers.

But, according to THE CITY, the Sheriff's office has since been raising questions about whether it has the legal authority to implement the crackdown.

So what the future holds for those smoke shops remains unknown, but they certainly won't be evaporating in a puff of smoke.

Are there risks involved in buying cannabis from an unlicensed smoke shop?

New Yorkers are expected to comply with New York State marijuana possession laws — be over 21, don't driver under the influence or have open containers in a car, don't take products across state lines and only possess three ounces of 24 grams — but are unlikely to be punished for purchasing the weed at an illegal store.

But it's worth noting the state oversees products sold in licensed dispensaries and regulates packaging and labels to meet "robust public health standards," according to the Office of Cannabis Management.

Unlicensed dispensaries are largely unregulated, which has raised concerns cannabis sales to minors and quality.

According to the New York Times, products from 20 shops found contaminants such as E. coli, salmonella, nickel and lead and mislabeling in a 2022 lab test.

When did the legal stores open?

Housing Works Cannabis became New York City's first legal weed store in December 2022.

Smacked Village opened next in late January, followed by Union Square Travel Agency, which opened in February.

Most recently, Good Grades opened in Queens in March, becoming New York's first woman-owned dispensary.

Said Good Grades owner Extasy James, “We are incredibly passionate about providing greater access to cannabis and breaking down the barriers that prevent so many people, especially those from marginalized communities, from experiencing the benefits of this amazing plant."