By Gus Saltonstall
A new legally licensed cannabis dispensary has opened on the Upper West Side.
The Sanctuary Garden welcomed customers for the first time on Thursday at 2610 Broadway, between 98th and 99th streets.
“An oasis in the heart of the Upper West Side, we bring people together through culture, advocacy, and a carefully curated selection of New York’s finest cannabis,” reads the dispensary’s website. “At The Sanctuary Garden, we’re a pillar of the community, redefining the way people experience cannabis with knowledge, intention, and purpose.”
The dispensary was founded by Daron Hudson, a community organizer, social worker, and cannabis operator. Hudson also helped launch New York City’s first legal dispensary in 2022, Housing Works Cannabis in Lower Manhattan.
“The Sanctuary Garden represents everything I’ve worked toward—an environment where people feel safe, seen, and supported,” Hudson said in a news release. “Cannabis should be about more than transactions. It should be about healing, access, and building people up. I’m grateful to finally open these doors and create a place where community and legacy truly matter.”
The dispensary sells marijuana, vapes, pre-rolls, extracts, and more. You must be at least 21 years old to enter the store, and show a valid ID.
There is also what appears to be an illegal smoke shop on the same Broadway block between 98th and 99th streets, but it is unclear if it is still in operation.
On Thursday, the new legal dispensary is having its soft opening, and then will have a two-day grand opening period on September 26 and 27, which will include special events. In general, the store will be open daily from 8 a.m. to midnight.
The Sanctuary Garden becomes the fifth legal dispensary on the Upper West Side.
You can learn more about the new dispensary — HERE.
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Could always use more competition. Up to now I’ve had to get by with only The Flowery, Just a Little Higher, Superfly and Flower Power.
Just what that hood needs: More people sitting around doing nothing all day but getting high.
I resemble that remark
Not clear that they’re doing that but even if they are they’re not bothering you so “that hood” probably isn’t yours
That’s a broad and sloppy depiction. Some users are people with chronic pain issues who find cannabis more effective at mitigation and better tolerated than prescription drugs. It’s one reason why marijuana use is steadily rising among the elderly population — many of whom live in “that hood.”
Yes, you’re right. I’m sure that is the vast majority of the folks that are smoking. It’s all these old people walking around with pain issues that are making the entire neighborhood smell like marijuana. Not random young dudes, lighting up and getting high. It’s mainly the senior citizens.. thanks for clarifying.
AMEN!!!
It’s legal now, and this is apparently a legal store. What’s your point?
Welcome to the neighborhood! I look forward to having another place nearby with a variety of product and competitive prices.
Just checked out their edible prices online. There are better deals at Superfly right now.
Please enough with the Cannabis and smoke shops on the UWS. Nothing good comes of this.
More shops please! Maybe competition will lower prices!
The good part is that your friends and neighbors and maybe even family can now buy substances that are safer than alcohol safety and securely, and without breaking the law or dealing with drug dealers. This REDUCES crime.
You could say that about a lot of things depending upon how it is used. It certainly doesn’t reduce crime.
All wrong. If you do any research cannabis causes many more physical and mental health problems than either alcohol or tobacco.
I know more about this than I should and I don’t know one person who agrees with you including my doctor who is an addiction specialist at Mount Sinai and who encourages edible use over alcohol. There are 88,000 alcohol overdose deaths every year. Forty-five percent of all liver disease deaths are caused by alcohol. Alcoholics can literally die just by not drinking. And that doesn’t count all the other diseases plus crimes and accidents where alcohol is a factor. Go ask the police or EMS which is worse.
Which is worse,does not make either OK.. Obesity causes liver disease and many other conditions as well.
My doctor, who is a specialist in doctoring, said that your doctor should throw out his license and encourage water and fresh salad, instead of edibles over alcohol.
There are zero deaths, zero diseases and zero accidents annually directly attributed to them. You can ask the police, EMS, NYSE, FedEx, NOAA, and AARP to confirm.
Yes, alcohol is worse than pot, but marijuana smoking has been proven to cause serious physiological and physical damage.
Fine. Eat the stuff. Just don’t blow smoke out at us — puke! Think about it. Your kids don’t need it. AND NEITHER DOES YOUR DOG.
Hounds love weed.
but cats ! they’ve been eating it since they evolved. just take a look at one.
The people spoke this is what people want, and the store is following the law. This is much better than the illegal ones.
Sad, The West 90’s and 100’s are already high crime and sketchy. This won’t help business.
High crime compared to where? By what metrics?
The neighborhood takes a very noticeable nosedive the second you go north of 86th St. It’s embarrassing and I don’t ever bring out-of-towners up there.
You mean with all the small, mom and pop businesses on Broadway and Amsterdam? Maybe we need more big boxes and national franchises north of 86th? Or is it the public housing you’re talking about?
My wife and I just walked from 79th/Columbus to mama too’s (bwdy /106th and back, generally walking on Amsterdam and broadway. Obviously area changes north of 86, and yes, location of housing projects is a significant factor in the decline. Not politically correct, but accurate. The number of those with mental/substance issues and generally loud and obnoxious apparently unemployed men doesn’t help.
I’m not suggesting what to do to improve area but simply denying reality is foolish
I live in the W90s and have for decades. You can call it a “decline” as you walk north, if you want to posit a standard for how a walk along Broadway should feel. Or you could think of it as a “difference” in the feel of a neighborhood, without making a judgment about it. I walk these blocks north and south all the time and can’t remember the last time I felt unsafe here. Probably not since “Giuliani time.” But I understand some people find “loud voices” and apparent poverty to be personally threatening, It’s what you’re used to, I suppose.
I understand and appreciate your comments. I’ve lived in nyc since WW2 , in the Bronx and Manhattan. Neighborhoods change. All part of life. Got it. Grew up in a poor area, parents scrapped by.
I’m glad you are unthreatened by your surroundings and are comfortable in your neighborhood . Maybe I’m just an old guy who tires of the crazies/homeless/druggies on the trains and their thousands of similarly afflicted roaming the streets.
Congratulations to you and Christof for having a civil, thought-provoking interchange. So rare on any platform. Love it.
We’re not exactly want for out of towners tbh, so this makes me happy.
’Im grateful to finally open these doors and create a place where community and legacy truly matter.”
Does this mean they will respect people in the community who do not want to breathe the smoke and will ask customers to do the same ?
Yes, smokers of all kinds are known for their respect for others, as well as community, legacy, advocacy, culture, safety, knowledge, building up, being seen, etc…
Says so in the dictionary included with the starter kit for opening these places.
Right next to an SRO. How is this legal?
Marijuana Legalization will eventually be recognized as one of the most damaging policies of this century.
100%. I find it extremely discouraging that people refuse to recognize the harm of using marijuana despite so many recent psychological studies that indicate negative changes and irreversible damages to mental state. People get carried away with its legality and that they would no longer violate the law by purchasing and completely ignore the harm. There are many drugs that are legal when prescribed by a doctor and purchased in a pharmacy, but that does not mean they are harmless, and many lead to personality change and even overdoses. Open your eyes, people.
A “legal” dispensary does not mean the products they sell will all be legal. Drugs are evil, period.
The absolute last thing this blocks needs. Ugh why does everything in the 90s and 100s have to keep going downhill
Down hill? How long have you lived in the area?
White Plains is just a short train ride away
I think you are missing the point.
That there are some who are cut out for city living and some who are not?
Hope they close soon, those places are a blight on the area, unneeded and unwanted force blasting their awful aroma on all who walk by.
That’s the illegal ones you are referring to. Legal dispensaries do not allow consumption on their premises.
Anyone suggest closing all the liquor stores and barring beer in bodegas yet?
Sounds great to this lifelong teetotaler. Paradise defined. Don’t forget banning all of it at sports stadiums too!
Keep the liquor stores open. Feel free to destroy your liver. At least my liver remains untouched from such nonsense.
The place between 98th and 99th on Broadway is still open. It should be closed down immediately.
Shocking that landlords aren’t held liable for the sale of illegal things on their owned premises.
This is very bad and evil this nonsense causes people madness and serious health problems how can be allowed to open shops freely and the government is doing nothing about it?
Ugh. This is already one of the dingiest blocks on the UWS. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that it drives the illegal, dirtbag-magnet weed shop two doors down out of business.
All you pearl-clutchers are fully welcome to open a business on this block that you think will better serve this community. (Doorbell rings) It’s your Amazon delivery.
Call me an old lefty if you must but I say…..follow the money…liquor stores, weed stores, they both sell stuff that will be harmful to people . Not all but certainly some. They generate money and profits, for individuals and for the city and various agencies. It’s just another hypocrisy .
Please supply your local black market dealer. Paying money to a store sends tax dollars to the State.
That’s the same New York City and State that has been arresting responsible users for the last four decades!
Worst idea to legalize cannabis! Just another dumb way for politicians to try and make up for lost money, instead of better management and less corruption.