Cousins Levent and Denis Ozkurt, from left, host a grand opening in their prison hashish dispensary Hush on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.
Photo Erin Edwards
After months of delays brought about by way of a statewide fight in the courtroom device, a prison leisure hashish dispensary in the end opened its doors in Allerton.
Hush, the Bronx’s latest hashish participant at 2460 Williamsbridge Road in Allerton, hosted a grand opening on Dec. 14 that was once the rest however quiet and low-key, as its identify implies.
“Thank (you) everybody for support us from day one,” Denis Ozkurt, who co-owns Hush together with his cousin Levent Ozkurt, mentioned at the grand opening. “It’s a big day for us and a big step forward.”
The opening comes about 4 months after first of all deliberate.
A statewide injunction that were given hung up in the courts left the cousins in limbo once they handed their compliance inspection “with flying colors” in early August. The case was once filed in Albany Supreme Court on Aug. 2 by way of a gaggle of service-disabled veterans in opposition to the state Cannabis Control Board (CCB) and Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) — the plaintiffs arguing that the licensing rollout violated the state Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA).
At first presiding Judge Kevin Bryant prohibited the state from proceeding to permit dispensaries to open whilst the case was once open, then granted exemption to 23 of the dispensaries who had already met licensing necessities — together with Hush — this summer time. But not up to every week later, Bryant reversed his choice once more, hanging Hush again right into a state of uncertainty about when their doors would open.
The Bronx Times reached out to the Albany Supreme Court device for remark and is waiting for reaction.
“Finally out of the injunction and we are just ready to serve the community now,” Denis Ozkurt mentioned. “Serve it legal and safe.”
A borough that has been disproportionately impacted by way of hashish law, the Bronx has lagged at the back of different boroughs since OCM introduced its first spherical of conditional adult-use retail dispensary (CAURD) licenses greater than a yr in the past. The CAURD initiative is a statewide restorative justice program this is intended to offer entrepreneurial alternatives in the prison hashish trade to people who had been impacted by way of the over-policing of marijuana.
“We know what the history of criminalization has been and the Bronx has suffered the most out of all the boroughs,” mentioned Dasheeda Dawson. “It’s exciting to see economic development and see new stores open.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday her place of job anticipates that 37 dispensaries could have opened throughout the state in 2023.
“These new dispensaries continue our mission of strengthening our legal market while at the same time helping to push out the bad actors who skirt our laws and undermine all we are trying to accomplish,” Hochul mentioned.
Hush is the Bronx’s second totally open prison leisure dispensary storefront. The Bronx’s first prison dispensary, Statis Cannabis Co., opened in Crotona on July 6 about seven months after New York City opened its first dispensary in the East Village on Dec. 29, 2022. Sesh NYC, an authorized same-day hashish supply trade, additionally serves purchasers in higher Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester County.
— Erin Edwards contributed to this record
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