Long Island's first recreational cannabis dispensary Strain Stars opens Saturday in East Farmingdale

Long Island’s first state-approved recreational cannabis dispensary will open Saturday to what is expected to be a large crowd of eager customers.

Strain Stars in East Farmingdale will be the first brick-and-mortar pot retailer on Long Island when it opens its doors at noon. The family-owned, 3,500-square-foot storefront is on Route 110 south of Gazza Boulevard.

“We’re all very excited,” company CEO Yuvraj Singh said Friday. “We know this is pretty big news for Long Island and for Farmingdale, so we’re just trying to get this off without any hiccups.”

Singh, 24, owns the store with his sister Jasmine Kaur, 26, and cousin Kamaldeep Singh, 29 — all of Hicksville  — and family friend Tushar Mallick, 32, of East Meadow.

They planned to open last month but there was a delay in getting a certificate of occupancy from Babylon Town.

“Making sure everything was fixed on our end and the town’s end, and communicating with the state … that’s what we pretty much underestimated,” the CEO added.

The store will be the 19th state-sanctioned cannabis dispensary in New York, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2021. It will carry more than 400 items from 16 state-approved suppliers that those 21 and older can buy.

Nearly 40 businesses have received temporary or "conditional" state licenses to open recreational pot shops on Long Island. To qualify for a conditional retail license, an applicant has to have owned a profitable business for at least two years and either have a marijuana conviction or have a relative with such a history.

"New York is leading the nation in building a new cannabis industry that advances social justice and provides economic opportunity for those who have been harmed by the inequitable enforcement of cannabis laws," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Friday. "With these new dispensaries opening in New York, we are providing safer product to New Yorkers, while furthering our ambitious goals for equity in New York's cannabis laws."

Babylon, Brookhaven, Riverhead and Southampton are the only towns on Long Island to have opted in to permitting retail shops. Babylon only allows dispensaries in industrially zoned areas outside a 200-foot radius of religious properties and a 500-foot radius of schools, libraries, parks and any other areas "where minors congregate."

On Friday afternoon, Strain Stars employees stocked the glass cabinets that line the brightly lit store, with price tags on accessories ranging from $15 for a glass pipe to $180 for a bong.

Rows of canisters filled with marijuana flowers displayed cards showing the strength of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the psychoactive ingredient in pot that produces a high — each product contains.

In addition to pre-rolled joints and vape cartridges, visitors will be able to buy body balm, packets of gummies, cans of seltzer and tins of coffee beans — all infused with cannabis.

Every product has a bar code patrons can scan with their smartphones to bring up information on ingredients and state lab tests. State pamphlets that include “The Guide to Safer Cannabis Consumption” and “Know your Edibles" are by the register.

For the grand opening, there will be a food truck, a DJ and vendors with outside tables where visitors can sample the flavors of non-cannabis-infused products, Singh said.

There will be four security guards on hand, along with 15 employees. There is a state-set three-ounce limit on cannabis in one purchase, Singh said, and all buyers must show ID.

 Online sales where buyers can pick up their orders at the store will begin within days, and the company plans to start delivery service within about a 25-mile radius in a few weeks, according to store officials.  

Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer on Friday called the owners “the perfect candidates” to open the first retail shop on Long Island.

“They put to rest my fears,” said Schaffer, who initially opposed recreational cannabis sales. “They have added even extra levels of checks and balances and security,  and I think they’ll serve as a model for how this can be done in this new era of legalized cannabis.”

Singh said customers have been showing up at the store for weeks hoping it was open.

“It took almost two years, but now we’re finally here,” he added. “We’re looking forward to seeing how this affects the majority of the other shops opening up and our goal to set an example and lead the right way."

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.