At a press conference for the pop-up of Good Grades, the first woman-owned and Queens-based state-supported cannabis dispensary in New York, Borough President Donovan Richards was the first customer last Thursday.
“Don’t tell my wife,” Richards joked as he bought oHHo gummies, which are a sleep aid, from co-owner Extasy James, 26, who runs the store with her cousin Michael James Jr., 34, both of Jamaica.
Located at 162-03 Jamaica Ave., Good Grades had its soft launch opening at 2 p.m.
James said that she was honored to be the first woman supported by the state’s Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund and thanked Gov. Hochul for the program.
“I’m the product of second-generation Jamaican immigrants,” James said. “This is about the promise of generational wealth, which is not just about money, but family solidarity and community impact.”
The equity fund provides licensees who were justice-involved or had family members who were justice-involved when it comes to pot, the opportunity to open on a short-term basis to fast-track sales, provide training opportunities for employees and to start generating capital for their business as they wait for construction to be completed on a permanent space.
Reuben McDaniel, the president and CEO of the Dormitory Authority, the