{"id":203392,"date":"2026-04-20T15:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/203392\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:23:11","slug":"williamsburg-born-hii-nyc-opens-bay-ridge-flagship-blending-cannabis-and-community-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/203392\/","title":{"rendered":"Williamsburg-born Hii NYC opens Bay Ridge flagship, blending cannabis and community \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hii NYC, a new cannabis dispensary, opened in Bay Ridge<\/a> April 18, drawing large crowds and marking a significant expansion for the brand into South Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The shop<\/a>, located at 9206 Third Ave., hosted a grand opening that brought a steady stream of customers throughout the day. A line formed shortly after doors opened, while a DJ played music outside and visitors were offered complimentary snow cones, popcorn and sandwiches catered by neighbor Charlie\u2019s Sandwich Shop.<\/p>\n

Inside, owner Peter Beznos worked behind the counter filling orders as staff assisted customers navigating a menu that includes cannabis flower, pre-rolls, oils and edibles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Bay Ridge location is approximately three times the size of the company\u2019s original Williamsburg storefront, allowing for increased inventory and additional uses for the space, according to Beznos.<\/p>\n

\"HiiHii NYC offers a variety of cannabis products, from flower, oils and edibles.Photo by Paul Frangipane \"\"Hii NYC\u2019s Bay Ridge shop is the legal cannabis dispensary\u2019s second location.Photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Beznos has worked in cannabis advocacy for over 30 years, in what he describes as \u201ca calling.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

That \u201ccalling,\u201d he said, was \u201cdriven by belief that prohibition was wrong, that cannabis had legitimate medical and recreational value, and that the people who benefited most from criminalization were never the people who were actually hurt by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shop is licensed through the State\u2019s Office of Cannabis Management\u2019s Community Access to Regulated Dispensaries (CAURD)<\/a> licensing pathway initiative. Its purpose is to grant community-owned businesses the power necessary to operate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hii NYC\u2019s storefront opened in Williamsburg just one year ago, making it the neighborhood\u2019s first licensed cannabis dispensary.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Co-owner Martin Kamornik said the expansion into Bay Ridge was a deliberate move.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy to be in the neighborhood \u2014 we\u2019re here to enlighten and enrich the community,\u201d Kamornik told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cThe neighborhood has been very inviting, very accommodating to us, and we look forward to years and years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HiiHii NYC joins three other dispensaries in Bay Ridge.Photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

Kamornik said the larger location will allow the business to expand beyond retail operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to hold a lot more inventory at this location,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can now look into hosting community events and educating the locals, something that we were unable to do in the first location due to its limited size.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that Hii NYC aims to guide customers as cannabis use becomes more widely accepted in New York.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cCannabis nowadays is centered around wellness \u2014 it\u2019s centered around taking care of your body, it\u2019s centered around being peaceful and being smart and consuming responsibly,\u201d Kamornik said. \u201cSo we\u2019re happy to educate and speak to anyone through the buying process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HiiHii NYC\u2019s Williamsburg store front opened in April 2024.Photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

Kamornik also addressed concerns about underage access, stating that the dispensary enforces a strict age policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no one under 21 allowed on premises and we are very strict on that,\u201d he said, noting that identification is checked at the door.\n<\/p>\n

The opening was supported by Bodega Boyz, a New York-based cannabis brand whose products are sold at the store. Co-owner Winky Chhabra said the relationship between cannabis businesses in the city extends beyond typical retail partnerships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen each other grow from the bottom up, meaning there was no cannabis\u2014there was a dream that you could own a store or own a brand,\u201d Chhabra said. \u201cIt was really nice and humbling to see like-minded people go through the same struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur relationship is way deeper than a business transaction,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n

Hii NYC joins the growing Bay Ridge cannabis community, which includes Kaya Bliss Dispensary<\/a>, High Dankery Cannabis Dispensary and FlynnStoned Cannabis Company<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hii NYC, a new cannabis dispensary, opened in Bay Ridge April 18, drawing large crowds and marking a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[78567,7727,79044,80471,99,8262,80472,74388,80473,80474,80475,80476,80477,80478,18868,22904,9,4534,11,10,12,370,80479,14946,45472,2990,6222],"class_list":{"0":"post-203392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-78567","9":"tag-bay-ridge","10":"tag-bay-ridge-news","11":"tag-brooklyn-economy","12":"tag-brooklyn-news","13":"tag-cannabis-community","14":"tag-cannabis-culture","15":"tag-cannabis-industry","16":"tag-cannabis-retail","17":"tag-caurd","18":"tag-community-business","19":"tag-dispensary-opening","20":"tag-hii-nyc","21":"tag-leaves-of-grass","22":"tag-local-business","23":"tag-marijuana-legalization","24":"tag-new-york","25":"tag-new-york-cannabis","26":"tag-new-york-headlines","27":"tag-new-york-news","28":"tag-news","29":"tag-newsletter","30":"tag-nyc-dispensaries","31":"tag-nyc-small-business","32":"tag-retail-expansion","33":"tag-small-business","34":"tag-williamsburg-brooklyn"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203392","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=203392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}