LI’s first recreational cannabis shop opening in East Farmingdale | Long Island Business News

Long Island’s first recreational cannabis store is slated to open this weekend, according to the new business’ website. 

Called Strain Stars, the dispensary is located in a 3,500-square-foot space at 1815 Broadhollow Road in East Farmingdale. 

Though the dispensary is in a multi-tenanted retail building, the property is in an industrial zone, which is where the Town of Babylon requires cannabis retailers to be located. Under town rules cannabis retail shops are also only allowed at least 500 feet from schools, parks, libraries, and any areas “where minors congregate,” and more than 200 feet of churches or other religious properties, and the Broadhollow Road location meets those criteria. 

Strain Stars is owned by members of a family that also owns several Long Island convenience stores and gas stations. The cannabis dispensary’s ownership group is headed by Yuvraj Singh of Hicksville. 

Though dozens of conditional retail cannabis licenses have been granted by the state to businesses on Long Island, according to the Office of Cannabis Management, Strain Stars is the first to open a brick-and-mortar dispensary here. Only the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Riverhead and Southampton are allowing retail cannabis sales, as most Long Island towns and villages opted out of permitting them. Many licensees have found it difficult to secure locations and meet the strict requirements imposed by municipalities.  

The constrictive environment has prompted some Long Island entrepreneurs to bring their business elsewhere. Long Island residents Osbert Orduna and Louis Chaloff founded The Cannabis Place, which began doing cannabis delivery business in May from a warehouse in Richmond Hill, Queens, and they also plan to eventually open a walk-in dispensary in Queens. 

The pair had hoped to open a retail dispensary on Long Island and scouted several locations. But they found the local regulations imposed by towns to be overly restrictive, including zoning that relegates cannabis retailers to industrial areas.  

“It wasn’t a market that was receptive,” Orduna told LIBN recently. “The towns 100-percent killed it. So instead of bringing 50 new union jobs to Brookhaven or Babylon, we had to go where the municipality actually welcomes us and our entrepreneurism.” 

According to its website, Strain Stars debuts Saturday, July 8. It will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. The dispensary will also add delivery service soon, according to the website. 

“