A historic Greenpoint bank dating back to 1908 may start slinging a different kind of green.
A marijuana company is applying for a license to open a dispensary in the vacant Greenpoint Savings Bank on Manhattan Avenue, a landmark building that’s been vacant since 2020. The space was last occupied by Capital One, according to the Real Deal.
The building, which features a dominant neoclassical structure with towering columns on its front and large dome on its roof, was designed by New York architects Helmle & Huberty at the turn of the century.
Attitude Cannabis Club plans to convert the space into a sprawling marijuana dispensary, and Brooklyn Community Board 1 is slated to hold a hearing on its license application on Tuesday.
While the community board does not have a final say in approving the license, state law requires community boards to be notified about any application for a cannabis license in their district and allows the groups to give recommendations to the state Office of Cannabis Management.
The company’s website states it already has one location on Myrtle Avenue in Bushwick. But that space doesn’t show up on the Office of Cannabis Management’s registry of licensed dispensaries. A spokesperson for the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some neighbors are raising concerns about the location of the dispensary ahead of Tuesday’s community board meeting. Marc Plotkin, who lives next to the old bank, said the business’ owners haven’t done enough outreach to the community over their planned dispensary.
“As long as it’s being done legally, that’s fine,” said Marc Plotkin, who lives in the neighboring building of the savings bank. “A lot of people feel like this is being done kind of covertly and also without following the basic rules.”
According to state cannabis law, “no cannabis retail license shall locate a storefront within five hundred feet of a school grounds” or “within two hundred feet of a house of worship.” A block away from the Greenpoint Savings Bank building is PS031, which is slightly over the 500-foot threshold.
The owners Altitude could not be reached for comment on Sunday morning.