When Felicia A.B. Reid, Office of Cannabis Management acting executive director, recently spoke to Long Island Association members, it was a victory lap and a moment of reckoning.
The cannabis business is booming, yet many Long Island licenses feel locked out, unable to open due to restrictive local zoning.
Reid dropped in on a meeting of the Long Island Association’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee, which examined the progress, potential, and some problems faced by New York’s legal cannabis industry.
The stop was part of the OCM’s statewide “Office Hours” listening tour.
She spoke after New York State reached a milestone in late 2024 when it generated $1 billion in revenue through legal cannabis sales, including nearly 300 dispensaries and more than 500 brands.
The Office of Cannabis Management said it issued over 5,000 licenses, permits and registrations, and conducted 1,300 enforcement inspections.
“This milestone is a testament to the resilience, hard work, and innovation of cannabis entrepreneurs across New York,” Reid said. “This moment underscores the strength of consumer demand for regulated cannabis.”
The state issued over 5,250 Licenses, permits, and registrations from 2023 through 2025, including 221 adult-use cultivator licenses, 292 adult-use processor licenses, 569 conditional adult-use retail dispensary licenses and 448 adult-use retail dispensary licenses.
“We recognize the $1 billion milestone as more than just a number,” Gov. Kathy Hochul has said. “It’s a testament to the hard work of those who helped build the strongest cannabis industry in the nation.”
High on Long Island
There is progress, there are profits and Long Island is part of that. Long Island Association CEO Matt Cohen talked about this region as a natural hotspot for cannabis culture and sales.
“This emerging industry holds incredible promise for Long Island’s economic growth,” he said. “Legal cannabis presents an opportunity to grow businesses and generate revenues for local economies.”
As of November 2024, Long Island accounted for 11% of statewide retail cannabis sales while representing just 3% of dispensaries.
“Long Island’s rich agricultural and manufacturing histories, as well as its focus on business innovation, make it a potential powerhouse for New York cannabis,” Reid said.
The Cannabis Catch 22
Sales are strong on Long Island, noted Brian Stark, a licensee who attended the meeting.
“Long Island is doing amazing numbers when it comes to cannabis sales,” Stark said. ”I think we top the state as a region.”
The Long Island industry pays taxes, has raised money for cancer, and has helped with Narcan training and a scholarship at SUNY Farmingdale. Yet dozens of licensees are being blocked from opening because of local zoning.
Most Long Island regions opted out, barring businesses, and those that opted in often imposed restrictive zoning, making opening difficult.
“The state says, ‘Here’s your license. Go open,’” said Stark. “But if I go open, I have a problem with the town.”
The New York State Office of Cannabis Management, or OCM, was created after the state’s Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act went into effect in March 2021. But local Long Island zoning is adding a layer of regulation, preventing many stores from opening.
“The landscape here and reception of this program and legalization has been stalled, in my opinion, by politics and stigma,” said Brian Stark, struggling for zoning approval in Riverhead. ”I’m stuck in zoning issues currently while paying a mortgage for a year and being fully licensed by the state.”
Devil in the Details
Riverhead passed regulations requiring a 1,000-foot setback from schools, which by 100 feet prevented Stark from opening. He said dozens of others across Long Island are barred by similar rules.
”If you searched available real estate in those corridors for lease or purchase, there’s none,” Stark said. “I’m in their corridor. I check all their boxes under what’s required. I have to seek a variance for the school setback.”
Babylon, which includes Strain Stars’ Farmingdale location, the first recreational adult-use cannabis dispensary to open on Long Island, is the home to a budding business.
“Babylon took the risk of allowing the first store and look how great it did with nothing negative that I have seen in the news or heard of,” said Stark. “The town received over $3 million and that will increase now with the other three dispensaries as well as a delivery that opened there last year and more to come this year.”
Southampton and Riverhead opted for business zoning areas, although setbacks can make it tough to comply if they succeed the state’s 500-foot setbacks. This shortage of available spaces is turning locations that conform into gold mines.
Stark said Strain Stars found a Riverhead property believed to be worth $2 million. The seller initially wanted $4 million to sell and then $6 million. Strain Stars ended up paying $9 million for that building, Stark said.
“The cannabis business was written into the regulations to be treated like any other business, like a liquor store or a pizzeria,” Stark said. “With the state regulation controlling how far from one another, and distance from a school and church.”
What’s in store
Babylon, Riverhead, Southampton and Brookhaven opted in, while Nassau essentially opted out, except for small hamlets or villages which Stark said have no available space.
Riverhead finally allowed a store to open, also owned by Strain Stars, and there has been progress in Brookhaven, where Beleaf obtained approvals after opening in Calverton and Brooklyn.
“The towns see they’re receiving tax dollars that they’re promised,” Stark said. “They expect more people to opt in, which will open more zoning.”
Mike Maturo, chair of the LIA’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee and president of RXR Realty, said it’s “exciting to see how this emerging sector is benefiting our communities and strengthening the local economy.”
And others at the LIA meeting talked about a cannabis industry on the cusp of possible growth.
Dan Deegan, co-vice chair of the LIA’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee and partner at Forchelli Deegan Terrana, said we “have a unique chance to position Long Island as a leader in this emerging market.”
Ming Chiang, co-vice chair of the LIAs Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee and president of Casual Home Worldwide, spoke about being “excited to see how it continues to contribute to Long Island’s economy.”
For the moment, though, many licensees remain in legal limbo, all dressed up with no zoning that lets them open. At least for Stark and other license holders with leases and no zoning-approved location, the cannabis Catch-22 remains.
“Until these towns follow the regulations in place, then Long Island will be slow to open stores,” Stark said. “ I do think you will see some new towns opt in soon now that they see it’s safe and profitable.”
