BAY RIDGE — Despite opposition from community members and elected officials, the proposed opening of Bay Ridge’s first legal cannabis dispensary has become a reality. In the former Pilo Arts hair salon located at 8412 Third Ave., Kaya Bliss hosted a soft opening on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Owners Edgar Kleydman, a former financial planner, and Giorgio Matesi, a sanitation worker, told the Brooklyn Eagle that in spite of some neighborhood backlash, many people seem to be responding favorably to what they plan on offering.
“On social media, for every one person that says, ‘We don’t want this in our neighborhood,’ there are more than 10 people that say, ‘We can’t wait,’” Kleydman said. “There are a lot of cannabis users here.”
This past July, more than 100 Bay Ridge residents demonstrated their vehement resistance to the prospective opening of a marijuana dispensary in front of the Third Ave. location.
Assemblymember Michael Tannousis (R-64) told the crowd that this is “the worst possible spot” for a dispensary, citing its proximity to several schools and a children’s bookstore.
“Because of this, we changed our name to something a bit more obscure that would not be recognized by a teenager,” Kleydman said. Kaya is a slang word for marijuana in Jamaican. The originally proposed name for the store was “High of Brooklyn.”
The owners also made an effort to keep the product out of view from the street.
“None of the product is visible unless you enter,” Kleydman said. “You must be at least 21 and show identification to come in — even if you look 90.”
Kleydman said that Bay Ridge was not his first choice for a dispensary.
“We did look elsewhere, specifically in Williamsburg, but we lost two leases and three spots there, in addition to a lot of money. We also looked in Brooklyn Heights,” said Kleydman. “One day, I turned to my partner and said, ‘Let’s just go back to an area near where we grew up.’
Kleydman is from Bensonhurst and Matesi is from Borough Park.
“We were driving by and saw the Pilo Arts spot for lease,” Kleydman continued. “We eventually got the lease, applied, received the site approval and here we are.”
The total space is approximately 3,000 square feet. According to Kleydman, the dispensary will be a little over 2,000 square feet, with a reception area, and two connecting rooms.
The remaining 1,000 square feet is slated to contain a bakery “but not a cannabis bakery,” Kleydman said. “The property also contains a backyard. As summer comes around, we will decide how to utilize it.”
Kleydman pointed out that his business is not about “getting high.”
“There are medicinal benefits — curbing anxiety, pain,” Kleydman said. “Weed has a bad reputation, but actually, it has the lowest addiction rate of any drug — less than 9%.”
According to Kleydman, in the last 50 years, the only way to guarantee clean cannabis was to grow it yourself.
“There are no chemicals being sprayed here,” Kleydman said, adding, “We finally have a pure product. Everything we get is sealed and tested. People will indulge in cannabis regardless, so they may as well do it in a way that’s clean and legal.”
Kaya Bliss will be open Sundays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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