CONBUD, First Legal Weed Store in the LES, Opens Today, October 19th
The store is across the street from the Tenement Museum, between Orchard and Ludlow Streets.
Today at 5pm, none other than Coss Marte, founder of acclaimed CONBODY and brother to local councilmember Christopher Marte, opens the first marijuana dispensary in the Lower East Side on 85 Delancey St. He is joined by business partners Alfredo Angueira and Junior Martinez.
Much like his fitness business at CONBODY, CONBUD plans to employ ex-convicts as a way to destigmatize formerly incarcerated individuals and deliver on their mission statement: "You get NY's finest, we get second chances."
Marte himself, a native of the Lower East Side, was jailed on a drug charge as a teenager. This allowed him to apply for a CAURD (Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary) license, meant for individuals affected by the federal and state government's War on Drugs.
In April, the state marijuana authority granted him the permit, and despite a handful of lawsuits attempting to halt the rollout since then, a judge granted an exception to 23 stores, including Marte's, in late August.
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The store is across the street from the Tenement Museum, between Orchard and Ludlow Streets. The ground floor was occupied by Joe's Fabric Warehouse until 2013, then taken over by Moscot until at least 2022.
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Note: A previous article, dated Sept 13th, overlooked CONBUD's intended opening date.
Pictured:
85 Delancey's new look
Coss Marte in front of old Moscot storefront
Most recent Streetview from April 2023
Streetview from 2009 showing Moscot storefront
Streetview from 2009 showing Joe's Fabric Warehouse