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Cannabis In Rockland County, Adult Use Retail, Medical, Processors, Distributors & Micro-Businesses: A Closer Look
Cannabis retailing has taken root in Rockland County. With four open adult use dispensaries and several others in-waiting, municipalities in Rockland County are poised to start reaping the tax benefits that legalization promised.
In 2024, the Village of Nyack netted $136,367 in tax revenue from Treehouse Cannabis, then the only operating cannabis dispensary in Rockland – even though Treehouse had only opened its doors in August.
The legally operating dispensaries in Rockland County are Treehouse Cannabis (28 Route 59 in Nyack), 202 Cannabis Company (81 West Ramapo Road in Haverstraw), Cannabis Realm of New York (76 Route 59 in Spring Valley) and Rockland Cannabis Dispensary (296 Route 59 in Airmont).
For medical dispensaries, Valley Agriceuticals at 345 route 304 in Bardonia has been serving Rocklanders medical needs since 2019. Soon Hudson Health Extracts will open its doors in the former Starbucks at 80 Main Street in Nyack.
Other licensees have secured locations in Rockland but have not yet opened.
Highland Botanicals at 501 Route 9W in Piermont is fully licensed. Two dispensaries are also awaiting opening along Route 9W in the Village of Haverstraw. AJA Cannabis has a retail license for 2 South Central Avenue in Spring Valley. Supreme Leafs has secured a license for 10 North Broadway in Nyack, across from Village Hall.
Aside from adult-use cannabis, micro-license Joint Resolution LLC (part grower, part retailer) is seeking to open at 575 Chestnut Ridge Road in Chestnut Ridge. Micro-business licensees can cultivate, process, distribute and sell retail.
Other Mid-Hudson cannabis license holders are able to operate in Rockland County. The opt-out that many towns and villages exercised for retailing and consumption lounges do not preclude other cannabis-related activities like extraction, blending, infusing, packaging, labeling and distribution in the County.
Mid-Hudson licensees include the Grasse Company (Processor, Distributor), BK Sweet Dreams (Processor), Tremolo Bien LLC (Processor), Kluglino LLC (Processor, Distributor), Red Eye Foods & Distributors LLC, A2S Nation LLC (Micro-Business), Three Cord Ranch LLC (Micro-Business).
And pending, Believe in Aisha LLC and Aches & Strains LLC are awaiting indoor cultivation licenses.
All counties and New York City are eligible to receive adult-use cannabis (AUC) tax revenue from the sale of AUC products sold within their jurisdiction. The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) has developed an interactive map (see link below) that displays the location of each AUC retail dispensary by county as well as the total amount of AUC tax revenue received by local governments to date, grouped by upstate counties, downstate counties and New York City.
Click through the map image below to use the interactive map. Hover over a region to see the data. In the Mid-Hudson Region, the 56 operating dispensaries contributed $6,552,300 in regional AUC tax revenue to date.
American Dream Mall Sued For Violating Bergen County Blue Laws
The American Dream Mall was sued by the Borough of Paramus, New Jersey for allegedly violating Bergen County’s long-standing blue laws by selling non-essential items, such as clothing and furniture, on Sundays. The mall, situated on state-owned land, claims it is exempt, while Paramus argues the Sunday sales creates an unfair business disadvantage for local retailers and that the mall’s operations violate a law designed to protect residents’ quality of life.
New Jersey’s Blue Laws are remnants of a 17th-century law that restricts or prohibits certain non-essential activities, particularly commercial ones, on Sundays. The law was rooted in the religious observance of the Sabbath. New Jersey generally repealed statewide blue laws in 1959, but Bergen County maintained its restrictions.
The lawsuit was filed by the Borough of Paramus against the American Dream Mall and its operators, alleging that the American Dream is violating Bergen County’s specific blue laws by conducting extensive retail sales on Sundays.
The suit says, “These businesses with the encouragement and support of the mall’s ownership and the acquiescence of the other defendants here, have violated the law hundreds if not thousands of times.” The Borough claims that the mall’s Sunday operations are unfair to other businesses in the county and hurt residents.
The borough of East Rutherford and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), which owns and leases property to the mall, are also being sued.
The American Dream mall is located on state-owned land managed by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. It claims it is exempt from the local blue laws, in the same manner that MetLife Stadium can host Sunday events and sell merchandise.
Most retailers in Bergen County, including major big box stores, adhere to the Sunday closures.
Negative SEQRA Declaration Advances Plan For 10 Lot Subdivision In Monsey
Plans for a 10-lot subdivision at 133 Route 59 in Monsey advanced when the Town of Ramapo Planning Board determined that the planned project will not have a significant adverse environmental impact. The negative SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review Act) declaration means that no further formal environmental review is required.
Plans include the demolition of the Congregation Pe’er Bais Yaakov’s yeshiva, currently located at the site.
The project is sponsored by Monsey Luxury Living LLC.
The Town of Ramapo Planning Board received an application from Arrow Builders LLC and Congregation Derech Emes (the property owner) for a major subdivision and site development permit approval.
The development area consists of 2.398 acres at the intersection of NYS Route 59 and Glen Hill Road. The Applicant intends to demolish the school and subdivide the parcel into 10 individual lots, each with a two-family detached dwelling.
Access to the lots will be provided via a new private road off Glen Hill Road. The project is situated within the town’s R-15A zoning district.
Major Rehab Of Bear Mountain State Park Includes New Playground, Larger Picnic Area, And New Facilities
A $25 million rehabilitation project will start this year at the 115-year-old Bear Mountain State Park. The project will create a new accessible playground, expand picnic areas, and add public restrooms, while updating crucial infrastructure.
“Bear Mountain has been a cherished destination for families and visitors for over a century,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “This $25 million investment ensures the park’s facilities not only meet the needs of today but will serve generations to come. By expanding access, upgrading infrastructure and enhancing recreation opportunities, we’re making it easier for everyone to get offline, get outside and enjoy time together in one of New York’s most beloved state parks.”
In the coming weeks, work will begin around the iconic Bear Mountain Inn, with plans to include:
- Creating a new destination playground set into the slope of Bear Mountain with multi-leveled play areas connected by a continuous ADA-accessible path, rock scrambles, and slides up to 70 feet in length. A wide variety of play elements and structures representing the rich history of the park and native plantings provide an immersive play environment for children of all ages and abilities.
- Expansion of paved picnic areas along the western side of main lawn and south end of Hessian Lake to increase capacity while reducing erosion of park landscape and impacts to existing trees.
- Landscape enhancements, including protection of existing mature shade trees and planting of new shade trees, native shrubs, perennials and meadows.
- Construction of a new high-capacity public restroom and gathering plaza.
- “Daylighting” an existing stormwater drainage pipe and creation of a naturalized stormwater management basin to reduce sedimentation of Hessian Lake.
- Modernizing electrical infrastructure and improving stormwater management.
- Completing needed structural repairs to existing facilities.
Once completed, the project will have doubled the number of picnic areas and increased the number of bathroom fixtures by 20.
The 5,205-acre flagship park is one of the oldest in the State Parks system. More than 2.3 million visitors came to Bear Mountain last year.
Bear Mountain State Park features more than 50 miles of hiking trails, including lake and Hudson River fishing access, a swimming pool, and Trailside Museums and Zoo. An outdoor rink is open to ice skaters from late October through mid-March. The Merry-Go-Round at Bear Mountain State Park features hand-painted scenes of the park and 42 hand-carved seats of native animals including black bear, wild turkey, deer, raccoon, skunk, Canada goose, fox, swan, bobcat, rabbit and more.
Construction will start after Labor Day 2025, with completion expected during the Summer 2027 recreational season. While the park will remain open during construction, some capacity restrictions will be in place.
