Legal Cannabis Dispensary Opens In Lenox Hill

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Following a soft launch in January, Ava Flower Co., a new legal cannabis dispensary in Lenox Hill, officially opened its doors to the community on Thursday.

The dispensary is located at 1280 First Ave. on the corner of East 69th Street, and is designed to feel less transactional and more like a boutique hotel lobby, its owner, Daniel, told Patch.

To that end, customers are greeted with an offer of espresso at the door, while they shop for tinctures, edibles, pre-rolls and more.

"The majority of dispensaries out there today want to advance their numbers and also have the type of brand that one day they could sell off to private equity, but we don't have any intention of doing that whatsoever," Daniel, a lifelong Upper East Sider, said. "This has a neighborhood feel."

Daniel, who has a background in hospitality, real estate, tech and fundraising, said he built Ava around the idea that passion should drive business.

"I was looking for something that can have overlap between a good business opportunity and passion," he said. "Work doesn't feel like work anymore."

The name itself is a nod to that ethos: "Ava" comes from the Hebrew word "ahava," meaning love.

"We’re purveyors of love," Daniel said. "When you step into our store, it's like a step out of the stress of New York and into a more relaxing environment."

Most days, the shop’s unofficial mascot, a mini goldendoodle named Bamba, lounges near the counter and charms visitors.

Bamba has already become a small neighborhood celebrity, with his own Instagram, @thedispodog. One family was so taken with him that they asked to bring him to visit their daughter, who was being treated at a hospital nearby.

"The hospital ultimately wouldn't let Bamba in, but they took him for a walk around the corner," Daniel said. "Between our products and the staff that we have here, there's just a lot of love. There's a lot of heart. That's what we pride ourselves on."

The dispensary has taken over a space that used to be a sushi restaurant called Bamboo Sushi, which closed in 2024.

The shop sits around the corner from some of the city’s biggest medical campuses, including Memorial Sloan Kettering, Hospital for Special Surgery and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

That location has shaped the shop’s mission: Medical workers, from cleaning staff to neurosurgeons, get 10 percent off for life, Daniel said.

Patients also come in for relief to complement their treatment, though the owner stresses the shop is strictly recreational and does not offer medical advice.

"Nothing prides us more than being able to know that a cancer patient can walk out of here with some kind of additional relief in addition to whatever treatment they're getting. It's just the all‑time peak of my day," the Upper East Sider said.

Know of a business opening or closing in Manhattan? Email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.