[[{“value”:” Sign up for our Brooklyn Paper email newsletter to get news, updates, and local insights delivered straight to your inbox!
Bay Ridge’s first legal cannabis dispensary is set to open in November following a contentious application process that drew opposition from some residents and elected officials.
Kaya Bliss, located on Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets, has a tentative opening date in early November, with a grand opening planned for the first week of December, according to owners Edgar Kleydman, a former financial planner and father of four, and Giorgio Matesi, a sanitation worker and father of one.
Kleydman and Matesi have been friends for 25 years and both grew up in Southern Brooklyn, around Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge, and Dyker Heights. The pair has been eager to start a business together and say they are excited to make their “lifelong dream” a reality in their “old stomping ground.”
“Opening a business here is kind of like coming home to do something we love in our hometown,” Kleydman, told Brooklyn Paper during a recent tour of the former Pilo Arts hair salon, which is currently under construction ahead of the opening.
However, the pair’s initial homecoming to Bay Ridge was less than welcoming. The local Community Board voted on June 20 to recommend that the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) disapprove their application, following a heated June 10 public meeting on June 10 where residents voiced strong opposition to the dispensary and the recreational use of cannabis in their neighborhood.
At the board’s Police and Public Safety Committee, the crowd shouted down any speakers who attempted to voice an opposing opinion, including Kaya Bliss’ legal representative.
Community Board 10’s downvote on the dispensary cited its proximity to schools and houses of worship along Third Avenue, despite Kaya Bliss’ application technically meeting the legal requirements. Current cannabis laws prohibit retail licensees from having a storefront within 500 feet of a school or 200 feet of a house of worship. However, the board ultimately took issue with its proximity to Home Sweet Home Child Day Care Center, which is less than 500 feet away but not classified as a school under OCM guidelines.
The rejection by CB10 was followed by rally outside the proposed site on June 24, where Assembly Members Michael Tannousis and Alec Brook-Krasny, along with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, urged the OCM to deny Kaya Bliss’ application. In a joint letter to the OCM, the lawmakers argued that a dispensary in this area would increase minors’ exposure to cannabis, despite existing regulations and age restrictions.
Politicians held a press conference and rally outside of what will soon be Kaya Bliss, Bay Ridge’s first legal cannabis dispensary.Photo courtesy of Assembly Member Michael Tannousis’ office
For cannabis retailers to operate legally, they must obtain a Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary license from the state OCM. The local community board then has 30 days to review and provide feedback on the applications before the Cannabis Control Board reviews OCM and community board recommendations and issues a final decision. Kaya Bliss, operating as RMAN Holdings LLC, received its provisional license on May 11, 2023.
The OCM’s Cannabis Control Board did not return Brooklyn Paper’s request for comment at the time of publication, but the owners of Kaya Bliss said their final hurdle to opening will be passing the OCM’s compliance review of their location once construction is complete.
Revised plans
“In the long run of things, it actually helped us, because the word spread out that there’s a dispensary opening in Bay Ridge when no one knew,” Kleydman said of the community pushback, which he added “surprised him.”
“I’m not sure why the community would want to push us back because I think a legal dispensary protects the youth of the community from getting their hands on cannabis products, just like alcohol or cigarettes,” he said. “If you really look at the neighborhood itself, there are a ton of bars. People get drunk, and people get rowdy. People don’t get rowdy on cannabis, people usually mellow out and go home, versus getting rowdy or urinating in the streets or screaming, and keeping the neighbors awake.”
At the June meeting, residents were critical of Kleydman and Matesi for not attending in person and hearing their concerns directly. According to Kleydman, he attended three such meetings previously when the pair initially tried to open a dispensary in Williamsburg, but those plans fell through due to a lengthy federal court battle that prevented licenses from being issued in several regions, including Brooklyn.
“Every single time we went to a community board meeting, we did nothing but sit there, and our attorney spoke,” he said. “I had no idea so many people were coming. If I knew there was going to be so many people, I would have came.”
Originally planning to occupy the three storefronts of the Pilo Arts hair salon, Kleydman decided to rethink the floor plans and reduce the dispensary to 2,000 square feet. The dispensary will now occupy only two storefronts, with the third earmarked for a bakery. Kleydman and Matesi are currently negotiating with a Long Island baker to open a bakery in the third vacant storefront. This business will be a separate entity and will not carry any cannabis products.
On the locally raised issue that the dispensary would “expose” minors to cannabis, Kleydman said, “That will never and cannot happen here,” stressing that patrons will have their IDs electronically checked upon entry to the reception area. Cannabis products will also not be viewable from the street, in line with OCM guidelines.
A rendering of the proposed reception area where IDs will be electronically checked before entry is gained.Rendering courtesy of Kaya BlissAfter ID are checked, customers will enter through a glass door to the open-plan shop floor full of products and registers where fully trained ‘bud-tenders’ will be on hand.Rendering courtesy of Kaya Bliss
Kaya Bliss is currently assembling a social media team that Kleydman said aims to educate the community on legal cannabis use and dispel misinformation about the store. Fully trained “bud-tenders” will also be in-store to answer customer questions directly.
“Unfortunately, there are archaic views about cannabis that have already been proven wrong,” said Kleydman, “but I understand what they’re saying. They have not been open to cannabis. They have not been open to what cannabis can do. They have not been open to the medicinal purposes of cannabis.”
Still, he hopes the community will come around once Kaya Bliss opens its doors.
“There’s a really small percentage of a neighborhood that doesn’t understand this yet,” Kleydman said. “I realized that just talking to the few who did not understand this and showing them what this is really about gives them peace of mind and understanding.”
“}]] Kaya Bliss, located on Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets, has a tentative opening date in early November, with a grand opening planned for the first Read More