Debate Surrounding New 125th Street Dispensary In Harlem Puffs On

HARLEM, NY — A Harlem community board held a public comment meeting last week to discuss the proposed site of a new cannabis dispensary on 125th Street across from the historic Apollo Theater.

Many of the community speakers made it clear that while they do not have opposition to the cannabis industry as a whole, the placement of the new dispensary on the already busy 125th Street corridor is where the problem existed.

"It's all about location," one speaker said. "Location is what you have the pushback on, not the cannabis industry itself."

Community board members were joined by neighborhood residents and representatives from the state to discuss plans to open a weed shop at 248 W. 125th St., between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.

“We believe the community deserves to hear about this dispensary location, and there should always be a place where we can raise our voices and share our thoughts," Community Board 10 Chair Marquis A. Harrison said to kick off the meeting.

The forum kicked off with representatives of the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) and from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) explaining a bit more about the 125th Street cannabis project and why they supported it.

“I do look forward to the day we see a legal cannabis dispensary open up in Harlem, owned by someone from Harlem, ideally someone who’s faced setbacks from cannabis prohibition,” said Damian Fagon, chief equity officer for the OCM. "It matters to be to get this right for Harlem."

Reuben McDaniel, a representative from DASNY, also spoke about the advanced levels of security the new dispensary would have, and that "we want this business to bring good community commerce to the area it is located in."

Both representatives emphasized the dispensary's aim to provide economic benefits to those who were previously convicted of marijuana-related offense, and to minority entrepreneurs and business owners.

The final 45 minutes of the forum was dedicated to public comment, where many of the speakers shared qualms about the planned dispensary and its location.

"I'm born and raised in Harlem," a speaker said to kick the public section off. "As a community resident I am opposed to this development. I feel like the placement of this weed dispensary will add to the already persistent drug problem present in the community."

There were community members who supported the idea of the 125th Street dispensary, though, and were quick to respond to the stigma surrounding marijuana.

"We as a community have to educate ourselves about the negative stigmas and the incorrect education when it came to the war on drugs," Charles Johnson said during the forum. "When it comes to 125th, we have alcohol there already, cannabis is now legalized so we have to stop looking at it like it's heroin."

The effect of legal marijuana on crime is still being studied in other states. Some research has shown no effect, while a 2019 study from CUNY's John Jay College showed that streets near cannabis dispensaries in Denver did see "significantly higher levels of property crime."

“There is no relationship with heroin use in legal cannabis industries," Fagon added.

The most reoccurring public comment had to do with issues of the 125th street location choice.

"We've been fighting for a long time to clean up the 125th Street corridor up," one person said. "If you weren't here in the 90s, or 80s, or 70s, you wouldn't know what that looked like. So it's not about being anti-cannabis, it's about being anti where you've proposed to put this dispensary."

"I have concern for the crowds that are already on 125th Street, what is the city going to do as far as safety is concerned?" another speaker asked. "If I come out with product, I don't want anything to happen to me with my products in my hands, there is just so much activity along with subway stops on 125th Street."

The 125th Street Business Improvement District has already come out against the planned dispensary at 125th St., writing a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul that urged her to "reconsider" the location choice.

In Community Board 10's January General Board Meeting, the discussion topic of making the 125th street corridor a "safe commercial space" amid "increased crime" was directly before discussion about the new dispensary opening on the same corridor.

The state has still not identified an operator for the new dispensary site or specified a timeline on when it would open.

You can watch the public forum for yourself, below.