A New York basketball star visited a Farmingdale dispensary Saturday as he rolled out his new line of cannabis.
Many New Yorkers know Carmelo Anthony, commonly referred to as “Melo,” for his seven seasons with the Knicks or his 19 years in the NBA, but the former basketball player is now involved in the cannabis business.
Anthony was over two hours late to the event as fans in basketball jerseys waited in line outside the dispensary. Strain Stars also hosted a food truck and sales as part of its April 20 weekend celebration.
Anthony created the brand STAYME7O (pronounced Stay Melo) in Oregon in 2024. This marks the brand’s first expansion to the East Coast. The “7” represents the basketball star’s former number that he primarily donned with the Knicks.
One Strain Stars employee said he estimated the event brought nearly 2,000 customers to the store Saturday.
Strain Stars is the only retailer on Long Island selling STAYME7O products. The company has another location in Riverhead.
“I’m excited to be launching the debut of STAYME7O in New York,” Anthony said in a statement. “New York is home, and bringing this project to life here feels incredibly personal and full circle.”
Saturday’s event wasn’t the first stop on Anthony’s rollout tour. He was spotted at dispensaries in Syracuse and New York City throughout the week promoting STAYME7O.
According to Cannabis Business Times, a portion of STAYME7O’s proceeds will support two nonprofit organizations: NuProject, which provides funding, financial coaching and network connections for entrepreneurs, and the Last Prisoner Project, which helps cannabis criminal justice reform.
Strain Stars’ Farmingdale location is just outside of Nassau County, along several other dispensaries on the Suffolk side of the border.
