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QUEENS, N.Y. - The celebration on Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens was a raucous one, albeit two months later than planned.
The entrepreneurs behind Terp Bros Cannabis Dispensary opened their doors Tuesday for the very first time after a court-mandated delay.
Terp Bros was supposed to open back on August 15th but was forced to put that on hold when a judge issued a temporary restraining order on all new retail marijuana licenses. The restraining order came as part of a lawsuit brought by a group of veterans who claim the state’s social justice method of giving priority licenses to those with past marijuana convictions wasn’t fair.
The judge eventually allowed five retailers who were deemed close to open to move forward in doing so. The four others open statewide the same week.
"This has been a long time coming. My partner and I have invested our life savings into this. We're not an outside-funded program. We have no [venture capitalists] backing us. This is a self-funded, small shop, homegrown mom-and-pop store," Rivera said.