Soon You Can Legally Buy Pot at This Old Chase Bank in Union Square

By NBC New York Staff • Published January 11, 2023

Nearly two weeks after the state’s first recreational cannabis dispensary opened in New York City, another one is coming.

This time it will be in Union Square.

It’s called the “The Travel Agency” and it will open up in an old Chase Bank near the Union Square subway station.

It is set to have its soft opening on Feb. 13th. Of the proceeds, 51 percent will go to the Doe Fund, which provides housing, career training and counseling to marginalized people living in NYC.

The first legal dispensary for recreational pot in New York opened Dec. 28 in Manhattan, 4,400-square foot corner building at Broadway and Astor Place, which used to be a Gap store. It marked a long-awaited launch of a marijuana industry that could become one of the country’s most lucrative.

It wasn’t immediately clear what items the The Travel Agency shop would be selling. At the city’s other dispensary, the Housing Works Cannabis Company, customers can find a range of prices and products, from $20 for an edibles container to a “flower” or plant — which you can roll into a joint — for between $40-$95. Cannabis vape kits will also sell for $95.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Dec. 21 that Housing Works, a minority-controlled nonprofit in Manhattan that serves people with HIV and AIDS, would be the first of 36 recently licensed dispensaries to begin selling cannabis to the general public — even though dozens of illegal shops have been in operation for many months.

In the coming months, the state is expected to issue an additional 139 licenses, with about 900 applicants waiting to learn their fate. The state reserved its first round of retail licenses for applicants with marijuana convictions or their relatives, plus some nonprofit groups. It also planned a $200 million public-private fund to aid “social equity” applicants.

New York legalized the recreational use of cannabis in March 2021.

By NBC New York Staff • Published January 11, 2023