If you’re in the New York cannabis industry, the place to be last Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13, was on the dock of bay, the East River’s Pier 36, for Revelry NYC.  Well over 250 companies exhibited their wares to over 4,500 attendees, who were both industry players and the cannabis-friendly public.

Major multi-state operators (MSOs) such as Weedmaps, Rove, Kiva, PAX, Papa and Barkley, Wyld and many more brought major activations, as did several New York-centric companies and organizations.

Business-to-business herb events have been few and far between in NYC.  So, you could feel the enthusiasm of both exhibitors and attendees, despite the vagaries laid on them by Empire State regulators.  Many in the community commented they “needed this gathering.”

People on the River

Along with the scarcity of New York City industry meetups, those that allow consumption and sampling are even more rare.  Exhibitors were allowed to give samples to registered buyers, and consumption was permitted in the stage and food court area outside.

Being more of a festival than a trade show, Revelry NYC is the core concept for co-founders Lulu Tsui and Jacobi Holland.  They started nine years ago with the mindset of representing the cannabis community rather than the “suits and ties” crowd. That adherence to the plant and its people may be why Revelry NYC is doing so well when other larger event companies aren’t.

Many exhibitors echoed the same sentiment—they came to Revelry not just to showcase their brand, but also to meet and connect with fellow industry leaders. Fernway Co-Founder Liam O’Brien, who started the company in Massachusetts and has since expanded into New York and New Jersey, said the event was working out very well for them, both with traffic at the booth and arranging meetings off site. 

“There are so few events in New York where you find all the companies and the innovators,” O’Brien said, explaining why Fenway exhibits at Revelry NYC.

And it wasn’t just local tribe members spreading the word and the cannabis positivity.  Movers and shakers from across the country descended on Lower Manhattan. In from California was Jocelyn Sheltraw, co-founder and CEO of the product review app and website, Budist. She and Budist’s COO, Claudio Miranda, were hearing strong buzz about Revelry and decided to investigate in person. Sheltraw felt it was more than worth the trip.

“We were thrilled to attend Revelry to experience firsthand the emergence of this bustling legal market, as well as to spread word about the MJBowl, which offers New York brands a national stage to celebrate the best their market has to offer.”

The exhibit aisles were packed. By late afternoon, booth staffers were running to collect back up supplies to give out more samples. Unlike many recent cannabis industry summits, staffers agreed that Revelry delivered: not only were valuable new contacts made, but real business was being done—the ROI was clear.

Rolling With Brands, Bands and Big Names

Celebrities and talented artists abounded at the event. On the exhibit floor, there was Fat Joe at the Jeeter booth; Mike Tyson representing Tyson 2.0; Rob Gronkowski at the Foy booth; and Remy Banks greeting crowds at Olio.

At the large outside stage on the second day, Durand Bernarr (solo artist and back up to Erykah Badu and Anderson Paak), Phony PPL, Dos Flakos and Angel & Dren—all NYC-based talent—kept the crowd energized and floating.

Unlike last year’s Revelry event, the doors to the East River were closed. This cut off Pier 36’s sweeping views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and the Wall Street area. But with 55,000 square feet of exhibit space in addition to other gathering spaces makes it a strong venue for a cannabis event.

Interestingly, many exhibitors commented on how the West Coast-based Hall of Flowers will be holding their first New York City-event in the exact same space in a few weeks, October 8-9.  Several New York company representatives said they were in a wait-and-see position on exhibiting with HoF, primarily because Revelry is homegrown in New York. That being said, since no major cannabis event companies are stepping into the New York ring this year, Revelry NYC cements itself as the premier cannabis conference in the Big Apple.

The post Revelry on the River in NYC appeared first on Cannabis Now.

New York City officials announced this week that they would take new steps to address the city’s growing number of unlicensed cannabis retailers in a bid to bolster the rollout of the regulated market for recreational marijuana. At a press conference in Manhattan on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. said they would also target the landlords of retailers selling weed without a license from the state.

New York’s mayor and leading prosecutor noted that the district attorney’s office had filed complaints against four unlicensed shops selling cannabis in Manhattan. The complaints allege that an NYPD officer had observed the shops selling cannabis to underage individuals and that the city is moving to shut down the shops for making illegal sales of cannabis and operating without a license.

“Legalizing cannabis was a major step forward for equity and justice — but we’re not going to take two steps back by letting illegal smoke shops take over this emerging market,” Adams said in a statement from the mayor’s office. “Today, we are proud to announce we are taking direct action against four unlicensed smoke shops in the Ninth Precinct, which will complement our efforts with District Attorney Bragg to hold these illegal businesses accountable. We are laser-focused on protecting the health and well-being of New Yorkers and ensuring this emerging industry delivers equity to those who deserve it the most.”

Last month, city leaders pledged to take action against the multitude of illicit marijuana retailers that have set up shop in New York City since the state legalized marijuana for adults last year. In December, New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched a pilot interagency task force to address the growing number of unlicensed retailers. The task force, which includes the Sheriff’s Office, the NYPD, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and the Office of Cannabis Management, has identified at least 1,200 unlicensed marijuana shops in the city. An analysis by city council staff revealed 11 unlicensed shops selling cannabis within a 10-block radius of the city’s first licensed retailer.

Warnings Sent To 400 Smoke Shops

In addition to the four complaints against unlicensed shops, Adams and Bragg said that the district attorney’s office had sent letters to the more than 400 smoke shops in Manhattan, warning them that the city could initiate eviction proceedings for unlawful cannabis sales. The letter specifically informs commercial entities that the city is prepared to use its authority under New York real estate law “to require owners and landlords to commence eviction proceedings of commercial tenants who are engaged in illegal trade or business, and to take over such eviction proceedings if necessary.” The letter also noted that within five days of written notice that prosecutors would “take over such eviction.”

“For nearly two years, we’ve seen a proliferation of storefronts across Manhattan selling unlicensed, unregulated, and untaxed cannabis products. It’s time for the operation of unlicensed cannabis dispensaries to end,” said Bragg. “Just as we don’t allow endless unlicensed bars and liquor stores to open on every corner, we cannot allow that for cannabis. It’s not safe to sell products that aren’t properly inspected and regulated for dosage, purity, and contaminants. And it certainly isn’t fair to competing businesses.”

Mark Sims, the CEO of cannabis investment firm RIV Capital, said in an email that the proliferation of unlicensed businesses hurts both the newly licensed adult-use cannabis retailers and existing medical marijuana firms including Etain Health, a chain of New York medical marijuana dispensaries operated by RIV, and called for more action from the state.

“While we commend Mayor Adams’ actions to combat the illicit market—it’s a positive step forward—the problem of illicit smoke shops cannot be viewed or solved in isolation,” Sims wrote in an email. “With more than 1,200 illicit shops (which is double the number of Starbucks in New York) suspected to be trafficking in illicit cannabis products, products that have been shown to be unsafe for human health, a more holistic approach must be taken to successfully combat the steady flow of illicit market product.”

The post New York City Officials Pledge Crackdown on Illicit Pot Shops appeared first on High Times.