Good morning. It's Tuesday. We'll find out about your role in choosing the best Metropolitan Diary items of the year. We'll also get details on the latest milestone in the rollout of recreational marijuana in New York State.
New York Today always ends with Metropolitan Diary, the New York City-centric column with fans far beyond the five boroughs. But this New York Today begins with something about Metropolitan Diary because it's time to vote on the best Diary items of the year. Ed Shanahan, who edits Metropolitan Diary, explains: A snarky sandwich maker. An out-of-place pepper grinder. A midwife pausing midlabor. A lost soccer ball. A burial at sea. The elements at the heart of the five items included in this year's Best of Metropolitan Diary contest may be ordinary, but the stories they anchor capture some of the wit, quirkiness, warmth and kindness that give the column, now in its 47th year, such extraordinary staying power. It's the third time we've asking readers to vote on their favorite among the finalists, which we have chosen from the roughly 250 items that have appeared in the column in the past year. Click here to read the final five and cast your ballot. The voting will remain open until midnight on Monday. The winner will be announced in the column to be published the following Sunday. As the editor of Metropolitan Diary, I read through several thousand submissions to arrive at the relative handful we published in 2023. I went back and re-read that handful to winnow the contest field down to about two dozen strong contenders. My Metro desk colleagues helped make the final cut by ranking five favorites. So now it's up to you. If you are a fan of the column, you will probably remember at least some of the choices. You will also probably remember at least one or two that you think should be on the list. I know how you feel: Some of the ones I liked best aren't among the contenders. There's always next year. Meantime, thanks for casting your vote.
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We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. Another milestone in the rollout of legal marijuana
The rollout of legal marijuana in New York State is continuing. The board that regulates marijuana is allowing medical cannabis retailers to expand their offerings to the broader public this month. I asked my colleague Ashley Southall, who covers the marijuana industry, to explain: The decision by the state's Cannabis Control Board followed a contentious debate over whether retailers that already operate in New York — selling cannabis for medical purposes — could begin selling it to recreational customers. Of the six approved last week, several are part of larger companies that have been accused of having anti-competitive practices in other states — practices that critics say are contrary to New York's goal of creating an inclusive market.
The medical cannabis companies are the only businesses in New York currently allowed to grow marijuana indoors and sell their own products, significant advantages that have caused great concern among the farmers who have grown the state's first recreational cannabis crops. The farmers are permitted only to grow marijuana outdoors and cannot sell directly to consumers. One of the six medical suppliers, the Cannabist Company, has already rechristened itself with a more consumer-oriented name. It used to be known as Columbia Care. It said it was making plans to open a retail dispensary. It also announced a wholesale deal with Herbal IQ, a licensed dispensary in Depew, N.Y., near Buffalo. Cannabist and the other five companies will be eventually allowed to operate as many as three recreational dispensaries, but they can open only one in 2023, and then only in the three days between Dec. 29 and the end of the year, if they are ready. The companies are also required to pay fees totaling $20 million each, though only $5 million is required in advance. Also, half their shelf space must be reserved for products that they do not make or own. Matt Darin, the chief executive of Curaleaf, another of the six companies and one of the world's biggest cannabis companies, had said that the approvals were necessary to help build a strong legal market, an essential element in shutting down illicit operators that have overrun the state. "With this deal comes a real opportunity to create an equitable marketplace where everyone can prosper as we all work together to make New York a nationwide cannabis industry leader," he said. Kaliko Castille, the president of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, had said that giving medical cannabis companies early access to recreational markets has been "one of the largest drivers of inequitable outcomes" in other states. But David Feuerstein, a lawyer who represented three of the companies in a recently settled lawsuit, had maintained that established companies bring much-needed infrastructure to newly regulated markets, helping to generate tax revenues needed to support social equity and small business programs. Regulators initially proposed making the companies wait three years after the start of recreational sales to give small businesses and social equity licensees a head start in the new market. The companies said that being forced to wait was hurting their businesses as cannabis sales were falling elsewhere and investors were growing skittish. Several cannabis companies have pulled out of other states. New York eventually reduced the delay to one year. The change came after Feuerstein filed a lawsuit in March challenging the companies' exclusion from the first round of recreational licensing, which was reserved for businesses owned by people with marijuana convictions and some nonprofit organizations. The lawsuit was settled on Dec. 1 with terms binding regulators to a timeline for allowing the companies to begin recreational sales. Jeff Jones, a cannabis farmer in the Finger Lakes region, said before the board voted last week that he was worried that New York would follow California, where he said small businesses were "barely making it" as they competed with larger companies and an out-of-control illicit market. METROPOLITAN DIARY Morning coffeeDear Diary: I grew up in Manhattan. He grew up in Brooklyn. We met and fell in love at N.Y.U. We got married soon after graduation and were together for 52 years until he died of cancer. Being a widow was hard. The house was quiet. Most afternoons, I went to the local library and read the books, newspapers and magazines there. I often stayed until closing time. I decided to join a club. One Sunday, I searched the club's events online and saw a picture of a male club member holding his dog. They both seemed to be smiling. It was an appealing image. Below the picture was the man's email address. I made a bold move and emailed the man and invited him to have an espresso with me. He soon wrote back and agreed to meet. I was nervous at first. After all, this was a stranger. What had I done? We met in the morning a few days later and talked for five hours as we sipped espresso and ate almond cookies at Monteleone's Bakery in Brooklyn. He was a widower and lonely, too. Eight years later, we continue to sip our morning coffee together, only now at the home we share, knowing how truly blessed we are to have found each other in this great city called New York. — Joan Marans Dim Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here. Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. P.S. Here's today's Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. Kellina Moore and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
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N.Y. Today: Marijuana milestone
December 12, 2023
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