By Sabina Mollot
Last week, the state Department of Health made the landmark announcement that five companies had been selected to grow and sell marijuana in the state and city for medical use, and each open four dispensaries. Of the 20 to open, five will be in three of the boroughs (two in Manhattan, two in Queens and one in the Bronx), with the busiest one expected to be located in Manhattan on East 14th Street between Second and Third Avenues.
There will be one other Manhattan dispensary, which will be run by a company called Bloomfield, Inc. A rep for Bloomfield said a location for the Manhattan dispensary has not yet been decided.
Peter Kerr, a spokesperson for the company that’s opening the 14th Street center, called Columbia Care, said it will open at 212 East 14th Street in January of next year. The dispensary, he said, will have an atmosphere like “a very nice pharmacy” and be spacious with “a few thousand” square feet.