Legal recreational weed is finally budding in the Bronx — along with hope that soon-to-sprout jobs and tax revenue aren’t just a pipe dream.
State officials Thursday held a ribbon-cutting at the borough’s first “pop-up” dispensary, Statis Cannabis Co., the seventh legal dispensary to open in New York City.
The store owners are Angel Turuseta, 50 — jailed for two years after being busted with a pound of weed in 2004 — and Emely Chavez, a fifth-grade teacher in North Bergen, NJ.
Turuseta got the license to legally sell bud as part of the state’s social equity program, and his business is bolstered by the state’s public-private cannabis equity fund.
The store — selling vapes, cartridges, edibles and flower — opened to the public exactly at 4:20 p.m.– a nod to the unofficial hazy stoner holiday April 20.
Chavez made an inaugural purchase for the cameras — a purple bag of Pillow Talk-branded melatonin THC gummies — as guests munched on fried chicken and mozzarella tomato basil skewers while sipping lemonade as a live DJ served up music.
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