{"id":106477,"date":"2026-01-20T22:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T22:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/106477\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T22:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T22:39:10","slug":"staten-island-lawmakers-propose-stricter-weed-shop-distance-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/106477\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island lawmakers propose stricter weed shop distance rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Staten Island lawmakers are proposing legislation to change New York\u2019s cannabis law, requiring dispensaries to be at least 1,000 feet from child-care facilities and 500 feet from places of worship.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Assemblymember Michael Tannousis, a Republican who represents the East Shore, held a press conference regarding the newly-opened Happy Times Cannabis Co., which is 500 feet from Steps to Success, a nursery school on Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills.<\/p>\n

The press conference follows a complaint Tannousis submitted to the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) about the dispensary\u2019s proximity to the day care center.<\/p>\n

Tannousis said OCM responded on Jan. 6, stating, \u201cWhile Steps to Success is accredited with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Office of Children and Family Services to provide child care services, these accreditations do not fall within the requirements of a school in the cannabis law.\u201d <\/p>\n

OCM said Happy Times Cannabis Co. was deemed to meet the mandatory distance requirements for retail dispensaries.<\/p>\n

\"NewlyHappy Times Cannabis Co., the newly opened cannabis dispensary nearby daycare center, Steps to Success on Hylan Boulevard.Sydney Maldonado<\/p>\n

Tannousis, a strong opponent of New York\u2019s cannabis law, criticized OCM for what he says is \u201cmismanagement\u201d and said there is a \u201cloophole\u201d that allows dispensaries near day care centers. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is complete mismanagement in this agency,\u201d Tannousis said. He noted that Happy Times Cannabis Co. \u201chas now opened well within 500 feet of a nursery school,\u201d a situation the cannabis management office says cannot be addressed because the facility isn\u2019t legally considered a school under the law.<\/p>\n

As a result, Tannousis and State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, who represents the North Shore and parts of Brooklyn, will introduce legislation to require cannabis dispensaries to be 1,000 feet from schools instead of 500 feet, and 500 feet from houses of worship instead of the current 200-foot requirement. <\/p>\n

The bill would also redefine what counts as a school \u201cto ensure that every type of educational institution, whether a nursery school, preschool, elementary school, junior high school, or high school, is included within this definition,\u201d Tannousis said.<\/p>\n

\"StatenNew York State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton is pictured speaking at a press conference regarding proposed legislation to change the current New York State cannabis law on Tuesday.Sydney Maldonado<\/p>\n

Scarcella-Spanton said the bill she will introduce will ensure all types of educational institutions \u2014 from nursery schools to high schools \u2014 are included in the law\u2019s protections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese shops really need to hear and heed the input of the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When contacted by the Advance\/SILive.com, an OCM spokesperson said the agency doesn\u2019t comment on pending legislation. An a representative of Happy Times Cannabis Co. wasn\u2019t immediately available for comment.<\/p>\n

Councilmember David Carr, who represents the Mid-Island, said he supports the legislation and emphasized the importance of protecting children on Staten Island. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe law is the law, and we need to protect the most vulnerable among us. I think this location is particularly inappropriate given its proximity to Steps to Success,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"StepsSteps to Success owner Pauline Youssef pictured speaking at Assemblyman Michael Tannousis’s press conference on Tuesday.Sydney Maldonado<\/p>\n

Steps to Success owner Pauline Youssef said OCM\u2019s investigation process regarding the dispensary\u2019s proximity to her day care center \u2018wasn\u2019t transparent.\u2019”<\/p>\n

She said she received only one email from the office inquiring about her licenses and didn\u2019t receive much response after complying with their requests. <\/p>\n

When she received a response, the office cited Section 409 of the Education Code \u2014 a code she noted was not the one the office had said denied her request.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey decided to introduce other terminology to negate what I was saying, and respectfully, that\u2019s not fair. The law is the law. I have a right as a business owner to ask why this needs to be right next to us.\u201d Youssef said. <\/p>\n

She said she hopes the legislation will provide clearer rules for other communities to prevent this from happening in the future.<\/p>\n

Tannousis said the legislation sends a message to Staten Islanders that he and his colleagues are committed to protecting the community and improving residents\u2019 quality of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will never stop fighting for you, and we will take on whatever battles are needed to ensure your quality of life gets better and that taxpayer dollars are well spent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Staten Island lawmakers are proposing legislation to change New York\u2019s cannabis law, requiring dispensaries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-106477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}