Go inside NYC’s secret weed shops: Fire strains and hidden lounges

The first rule of the underground weed lounge is that you don’t talk about the underground weed lounge. (Max Savage Levenson for Leafly)

From Dirty Taxi to Coochie Runtz, NYC is packed with exotic and homegrown strains, if you know where to look.

Although New York City’s first licensed recreational cannabis shops won’t open until this fall, you’d be forgiven for assuming the industry is already up and running.

From Manhattan’s Lower East Side and Washington Square Park to Brooklyn, Queens, and beyond, New York City is bursting with weed retailers. Some of them stand proudly in the open and public-facing, and utilize a gifting model (similar to Washington DC’s market) in which cannabis gets thrown in for free with the purchase of a piece of art or symbolic item. Other businesses remain underground, members-only, and elusive.

Most of these stores aspire to get a state license once they become available. And lots of them sell top-shelf weed, straight outta California.

Thanks to New York City’s uniquely lax public consumption laws, you don’t have to go far to notice that the market is exploding: You can smell it everywhere.

One crisp and blustery day this April, I toured a couple of these shops—along with Leafly’s East Coast editor, Calvin Stovall—to learn which strains are hot, where to easily find quality weed, and the thrilling benefits of heading underground.

NFT’s with a side of weed

Can I get an eighth with that NFT? (Max Savage Levenson for Leafly)

Take a spin through the Lower East Side and you can’t throw a rock without hitting a pot shop (or infused pizzeria). While Empire Cannabis Clubs, on Allen Street, is the most brazen—with a huge pot leaf sign hanging out front—a handful of other stores flourish quietly on side streets.

Street Lawyer Services, on nearby Stanton Street, offers quality product in a more innocuous environment.

SLS—which additionally operates a similar store in DC, and a hemp cannabinoid retail shop in Miami—nonetheless makes little effort to disguise its wares. Pass through a glass door, present your ID to a bouncer, and you’ll find yourself in a cheery, bright space. Behind a counter, video screens display digital art—NFTs—that you can purchase.

What do you know? That NFT comes with free weed! SLS provides a menu of “content packs” including branded sativa and indica flower eights, edibles, carts, and more. You can check out the menu online, too. Not cheap by any means, the prices are still comparable to other stores and delivery services in NYC.

To Read The Rest Of This Article By Max Savage Levenson on Leafly

Published: May 04, 2022