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By Michael Campbell
East Farmingdale has quickly emerged as Long Island’s recreational cannabis hub.
That distinction was punctuated last month, with the opening of Planet Nugg at 2043 Wellwood Avenue.
This is the third recreational dispensary to open up on Long Island — and East Farmingdale — since New York state, as they say, legalized it.
Planet Nugg is a collaboration between Dave Tubens, the recreational dispensary license holder, Walter Bonilla, Paul Doreste and Umberto Romero. All four owners are native Long Island Latino business owners.
They opened Sept. 15 and held a ribbon-cutting last week.
“When you walk into Planet Nugg, you’re blown away by the aesthetics of the place, first,” Bonilla told Greater Long Island. “But then you’re greeted by someone that went through a full week of training on the products.”
Planet Nugg joins nearby competitors Strain Stars, the first to open on Long Island in July of 2023, and Happy Days, which opened in January.
How it happened
Dave Tubens secured Planet Nugg’s license through New York State’s Conditional Adult-Use Recreational Dispensary program.
The program was designed to provide the first batch of dispensary licenses to communities negatively impacted by the criminalization of cannabis. Tubens was able to qualify for a CAURD license because he was a minority business-owner who had received a previous infraction for marijuana possession as a teenager.
Though Tubens had secured a license, finding a location to set up shop proved to be difficult.
For one, only four Long Island towns voted to allow recreational sales.
Then there are the zoning restrictions.
The Town of Babylon, where East Farmingdale is located, requires that all dispensaries must be located in an industrial area.
The dispensary must be 1,000 feet away from any residential area, 200 feet away from any religious property, 500 feet away from any school, library, education facility, park, playground, dance studio, gymnasium, or any place where youth congregate.
These restrictions have led to the clustering of dispensaries in East Farmingdale on the Island.
The building where Planet Nugg now operates was not originally for sale, but Bonilla spoke to the owner and convinced him to sell it because qualifying properties to set up dispensaries are so scarce on Long Island.
Bonilla, who had secured viable property, then connected with Tubens, who had a dispensary license, and together along with their two other co-owners, Planet Nugg was established. And since federal law makes it difficult for financial institutions to lend to cannabis businesses, the group had to raise the necessary capital on its own.
Educating the public
Meet Michael Pollak, Planet Nugg’s marketing manager and a veteran of the cannabis industry.
He moved to Nevada when he was 26 for its legal recreational cannabis. There, he gained experience across the cannabis industry, from Planet 13, the world’s largest dispensary, to Moxie, a boutique cannabis farm.
Now, Pollak is excited to get in on the ground level of the emerging market in New York with Planet Nugg.
Pollak and the team at Planet Nugg are looking to dispel some of the most commonly held cannabis myths. For one, the use of the terms Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid as classifications for cannabis flower.
“It’s not based on science,” Pollak said, “It’s more marketing.”
Although there are some historical and botanical reasons for the terms, they do not necessarily translate into consistently different psychoactive effects in the way they are marketed, he explained.
Terpenes, however, the lesser known component of cannabis that produces the flower’s pungent smell is a more reliable indicator — and Planet Nugg is looking to educate their customers about terpenes with placards in front of each product that show the flower’s top three terpenes by concentration.
On opening, Planet Nugg is selling over 100 different types of flower, along with many different types of products, including concentrates and pre-rolls.
They are stocked with specialty products and a customizable build-a-bong station in partnership with the water pipe company Prism for the dedicated enthusiasts.
But they want to be accessible to the more casual end of the market as well. Knowing that pre-rolls are a large slice of the market for more casual consumers, they have made sure to be stocked from a variety of different farms around New York.
Despite being in its early stages, Planet Nugg is already eyeing expansion.
Bonilla says they do not want to just stay in East Farmingdale. The team has more ambitious plans and are currently looking to expand to Manhattan and Riverhead, where there’s a medical dispensary and two recreational spots are on the way.
Top: The Planet Nugg ownership team with Babylon Supervisor Rich Schaffer in East Farmingdale in September. (courtesy photo)
