Ty Johnson, owner of the High Lounge in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on February 28. Photo Credit: Patrick Oehler via Poughkeepsie Journal.
Nearly a year has passed since New York legalized recreational cannabis.
Since then, recreational cannabis has made its way to the Hudson Valley with the opening of Monogram Coffee Shop and Dispensary and the High Lounge in Poughkeepsie.
Business Inspired by a Love for Cannabis
Partners Christina and Ty Johnson own the company NEWYORK, consisting of Monogram Coffee Shop and Dispensary, soon to be called NEWYORK Coffee Shop and Dispensary, and the High Lounge, a cannabis consumption lounge.
Both Poughkeepsie natives, Christina is a former school teacher and Ty is an artist and entrepreneur. At the beginning of 2020, Christina decided to leave her teaching job and work for herself. Ty, who owned a restaurant at the time, wanted to open up an art gallery next to his restaurant and have Christina help curate events that would showcase his art.
The gallery only stayed open for two weeks before COVID-19 lockdowns forced it to close. The pandemic also shut down three restaurants and a fitness center that Ty owned.
In a time of uncertainty and hardship, Ty and Christina found solace in cannabis. They decided to turn their love for cannabis into a business that embraces its culture. Thus they created Monogram and the High Lounge.
Ty explained that an important component of their business is embracing the city of Poughkeepsie. “We’re in the community. We are located in a portion of Poughkeepsie where many of our customers have never come before now. We embrace our city. We’re community members who take pride in the fact that we are from Poughkeepsie not only with Monogram but with every business we built over the past several years. We’ve opened businesses in our city in areas that needed life.”
Ty previously owned several other businesses on Main Street in Poughkeepsie. In 2010 he founded Kingdom Caps, a now-closed clothing store, followed by an art gallery called Cryptic Gallery in 2015. In 2017, he founded Pure, a combined restaurant, bar, and lounge that aimed to highlight African American culture and revitalize the city’s nightlife.
Monogram Coffee Shop and Dispensary
Monogram is located on Academy Street in the heart of downtown Poughkeepsie. The shop is a walk-up dispensary where customers are served via a drive-thru-like window and order products from a menu.
The dispensary serves a variety of products in different delivery methods. For example, they sell flower, pre-rolled joints, and infused drinks such as coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and lemonade. Monogram also offers infused baked goods that are mostly made by the shop itself, such as cookies and brownies. Additionally, the shop works with women-owned brands to make their drinks and baked goods, such as Irving Farm, All My Seeds, and Dulce Cakes and Confections.
The company values the customer experience, regularly offering a wide variety of promotions to customers.
“For us, […] we try to stay [as] creative as possible with our promotions,” Christina said. Recent specials include a buy two, get two free special; three lemonades and three pre-rolls for $50; and five lemonades, five pre-rolls, and three cookies for $100.
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Social equity is important to Monogram. For instance, Christina said Monogram is “a cannabis business with a social mission. We want to showcase our brands, our art, our company’s products, and to talk about equity in the industry in terms of access.”
Specifically, they prioritize giving those disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition access to the industry.
Further, Ty explained opening Monogram in Poughkeepsie will help advance the city by embracing cannabis. “Cannabis is the new gold rush, the ‘Green Rush’ if you will. Poughkeepsie has long been a city on the cusp of booming. I love Poughkeepsie. I think embracing cannabis only further propels the city, so let’s say we are doing our part.”
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The High Lounge
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Located on 380 Main Street in Poughkeepsie minutes from Monogram, the High Lounge is a reservation-only cannabis consumption lounge.
The lounge is open Friday through Sunday, and offers a variety of cannabis-infused meals. Every Sunday from 11:30 am to 3:30 p.m. the lounge offers a Wake and Bake Brunch with cannabis-infused breakfast food. Also on Sundays from 4 to 8 p.m. the lounge hosts Weed and Wing Sundays.
Despite being a consumption lounge, the High Lounge is not yet licensed as one. This is because New York State has not finalized the processes for licensing consumption lounges, or recreational retail cannabis stores.
Poughkeepsie is among the cities, towns, and villages in the state that have opted to allow consumption lounges according to the Poughkeepsie Journal. The state may begin granting such licenses by the year’s end.
Art, Life, Money
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In addition to weekend brunches, the lounge hosts other events such as Art, Life, Money, which happened this Saturday, March 12th. During the event, patrons consumed cannabis while enjoying local art and music.
The event featured a series of sessions curated by Ty. The sessions were designed to bring people that love cannabis, music, and art together in one space. This themed exhibit hinted at the relationship between cannabis, music, art, food, and pleasure according to the High Lounge’s website.
Attendees enjoyed event-exclusive specials, such as money-themed pre-rolls and took home art with the purchase of an eighth. The art included giant visualizations made by FireKings, David Sebastian, and more.
Ty said that his own art that was the focus of the event was inspired by drug dealer culture.
“I just like the aesthetic of drug dealer culture, flashy cars, beautiful women, and money. I just never wanted to assume the risk that came with that lifestyle,” he added. “We all know the stories about the dealers that had these run-ins where they were on top of the world and then they weren’t. Most of my art is inspired by those stories. My art sheds light on those stories. The music that influences my art, the movies that influence my art, all are from dealer culture.”
Although the High Lounge is not licensed as a consumption lounge, Ty was eager to proceed with Saturday’s event and future events. “I do not need permission. I’m not asking for permission. This will be the first of many Art Life Money events. The next exhibit is scheduled for April 20,” he said.
Looking Forward
Christina hopes that the upcoming adult-use cannabis market in New York State will allow businesses like her and Ty’s to thrive.
“I would love to see consumption lounges pop up here,” she said. “I would love to see Ty’s work appreciated on a large scale. [The] city of Poughkeepsie has been forward-thinking and has voted yes for these types of businesses. We’ve had so many restrictions throughout history. We just want to spread our wings.”
She further explained that due to the effects of the War on Drugs on Black Americans, it is important for their business to establish themselves in the market.
“Historically, Black people have been arrested and jailed for cannabis-related crimes at a far higher rate than anyone. For that reason, we think it’s essential we establish ourselves in this new gold rush. We believe we can re-establish Poughkeepsie to be one of the best cities in New York State. Often it just takes a few brave people to take the chance to bring about the change,” she stated.
Cannabis: local and local international 🙂