It's not easy to open a legal cannabis dispensary in New York City. The process is grueling and expensive; you can't openly advertise your product; and you've still got competition from the rogue weed bodegas the City still hasn't managed to shut down. Even after jumping through all of those hoops, if you're looking to open up shop in the eye-wateringly expensive, landmarked neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, the process doesn't end there. It's a lesson that Kaya Bliss, a licensed dispensary opening its second location on Henry Street, is apparently learning the hard way.
As first reported by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the stretch of Henry Street where Kaya Bliss is located is part of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. That means the dispensary must apply for a permit from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in order to get approval for any changes to a store's facade—a process with which Kaya Bliss's co-owners Edgar Kleydman and Giorgio Matesi seemingly failed to comply with. (Kleydman and Matesi did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Hell Gate.) So far, three Brooklyn Heights residents have already filed multiple aesthetic complaints about the dispensary—including one ratting out the dispensary for painting some of the bricks on its storefront gold, which violates the LPC's rules.
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