A homegrown dispensary opens its doors in Sunset Park

Sunset Cannabis Company sits on the relatively quiet side street of 55th, around the corner from bustling 5th Avenue’s taco shops, clothing boutiques and grocery markets. It has bragging rights as Sunset Park’s first New York State-licensed cannabis shop, owned and operated by native son Joe Alvz.

The boutique has numerous black-and-glass display cases filled with an assortment of tinctures, balms, CBC- and THC-infused drinks, and vapes. Products with names like “Satan’s Cookies” and “Mac and Jelly” were available for sale. In the back of the shop, behind a glass counter on a recent spring day, was 23-year-old Dani, the budtender, who grew up in Sunset Park and has worked in the shop for about three months. She gave advice, with a smile, about products for sale and checked out customers.

“What works mainly for our community here is pre-rolls,” Stephanie, Joe’s wife and business adviser, explained. Opened in September 2025, the business has had a steady increase of “organic” clients, as Joe describes them. Only in the past few weeks has a website gone online, and the e-commerce system is expected to be up and running soon, as they handle the many aspects of “compliance” involved.

“The people I used to serve at 18 years old, I’m serving their adult kids now, and they’re coming in with their father,” Joe said with wonder. The clients vary in age and ethnicity. Many seniors come into the store to buy cannabis, Joe says. Also, with no licensed cannabis shops in neighboring Borough Park, Orthodox Jews frequent the shop, according to Joe.

The fact that all the products are tested for purity and labeled is important to Sunset Cannabis Company. “If I can help eliminate someone OD-ing from something spiked in their weed, then we’re serving the community,” Stephanie explained.

Joe received his cannabis license as part of the CAURD (Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary) program in 2023. To qualify, applicants needed to be justice-involved and to have owned and controlled at least 10 percent of a qualifying business that was profitable for at least two years.

“I met those criteria getting locked up when I was young.” Joe grew up in Sunset Park in the 1980s and 1990s, when people referred to the neighborhood as “Gunset Park.”

“After that, I couldn’t find work,” Joe said. “Once you’ve had a record for cannabis, nobody wants to hire you. It was very difficult.”

In his youth, Joe became immersed in skateboard culture, nearly going professional, according to his wife Stephanie. Skateboard culture brought him into contact with California culture and, in effect, high-quality cannabis. He was then able to help introduce Sunset Park cannabis users to less familiar strains of cannabis.

Joe also runs a successful waste removal business, which was the other requirement that helped him qualify for the CAURD license.

Asked when he first started smoking cannabis, Joe responded with a smile: “As long as I was born, I grew up with cannabis seeds on my table from my grandmother rolling doobies.”

Joe grew up on 52nd Street, with his grandmother, known as Dori, living only blocks away on 56th Street. She brought the culture of smoking cannabis with her from Puerto Rico, he explained. About 20 years ago, Joe said, Dori went missing. His mother told him to look for her. Joe went to the local police station and found that she had been arrested on marijuana charges.

“She’s a gansta,” Joe laughed.

Joe, who is a father of four and now lives in Staten Island, spends most of his time in Sunset Park, where he has his businesses.

The CAURD program was a social justice initiative intended to right the wrongs of the war on drugs. Despite its intentions, Joe describes the rollout of cannabis regulation in New York State as unpredictable and confusing at times. “For the moms and pops, you know, it was very hard for us.” He describes the anxiety of losing significant money because of the rollout’s lack of clarity.

After receiving his CAURD license, he described many predatory offers from investors who wanted to go into business with him and take advantage of his license. “There’s a lot of sharks out there.”

Eventually he opened Sunset Cannabis Company with his own financing. He is proud that he was able to open the shop in his old neighborhood and that it is self-owned and operated, without any outside investors, Joe says. He serves local customers and hires local residents.

One recent afternoon, Jose Algera was in the store to buy some pre-rolls. Joe greeted him by name. Asked why he frequented Sunset Cannabis Company, Algera said, “I like the attention, the customer service.”