Copyright AM New York
NYC BUD, a licensed cannabis dispensary in Queens, has opened its second location in Midtown, paying homage to its nearby neighbor, Grand Central Station. Founded by Jon Paul Pezzo and Giancarlo Pinto, NYC BUD was created out of the duo’s passion for urban New York City and their background in nightlife, where cannabis finds its way into. “We’ve very much tried to pay homage to New York City urban culture through our design of our stores and our way of delivering our services and delivery. We make the product very accessible to people who want to visit one of our easily centrally located stores,” said Pinto. NYC BUD opened its first location in Long Island City in 2024, taking on a full subway-themed motif to fully embrace the most New York City thing: the transit system. When they opened the new Manhattan store, located at 39th Street and 9th Avenue, they leaned into the style of Grand Central Station. The shop features a replica of Grand Central’s constellation ceiling, a central “information booth” that doubles as a pick-up counter styled like a departure board, an ATM designed as a Metro-North ticket machine, and a rooftop where customers can consume. “Both [stores] are uniquely designed, immersive experiences that allow the cannabis shopper to enter into a world that is designed to make you feel like you’re in iconic New York spaces. But having the opportunity to shop for curated cannabis products with our highly trained and very friendly staff that makes everyone feel welcome and a part of the fabric of New York,” said Pinto. Like in its Long Island City store, the Midtown NYC BUD store has a curated selection of cannabis products to choose from, including flower, vapes, pre-rolls, edibles, tinctures, topicals, and more. The budtenders on staff are available to help customers shop, or you can order through one of the store’s kiosks. “Once the order is in, we have screens, which look like the screens you find either at the ticket counter at Grand Central or when you’re waiting for your train stops on a subway, and it cleverly places your name into the screen and shows it when it’s ready so you can continue to have your shopping experience,” said Pinto. “You don’t have to feel rushed when you put your order in. We made it very user-friendly and fun.” So far, the new Manhattan store has had a very positive response from customers and the neighborhood. Pinto says that as time goes on, the store will further cement itself as a community fixture. “We try to give a platform to local artists, whether they be musicians or regular artists or street artists, and we allow them to sell their art in our space and collaborate with us on projects,” said Pinto. “We have livestream and live events happening in the store, and we put those on the internet to help support the local artists in our community, whether it be musical or painting or street art, it could also be comedians.” Pinto added, “Whatever we can showcase as far as talent that many New Yorkers possess and we just try to make that part of our store. It’s just like when you go to the subway, you don’t know when you’re gonna find a very talented person singing, singing on the subway platform or in Grand Central. It makes it part of what it means to be in New York, right?”
