Thursday marked the soft opening of the Bronx's first legal recreational cannabis dispensary in Tremont.

The new dispensary Statis is helping New York's goal of equity that prioritizes providing licenses to people and family who have had cannabis convictions. This includes one of the co-owners of Statis.

It also provides a boost in job opportunities as the owners said all of their employees are from the Bronx. They also said that the employees have been trained to educate customers about the different products they offer.

Community leaders said being able to educate people on the usage of cannabis is important because it's the illegal market that is hurting the community.

"It's regulated, it's tested by the lab, you know what you're getting, it's going to be good product," said Statis co-owner Emily Chavez.

"We know there are many that are in the industry, that are not licensed, that are not regulated. This is someone who was a good actor, a good neighbor, a good messenger, that has done the work to get approved, and now we are here in Tremont," said Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson.

The new legislation signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul is taking extra measures in cracking down unlicensed cannabis businesses in the city.

Hochul says fines can be up to $20,000.

Statis opened its doors at 817 E. Tremont Ave. at exactly 4:20 p.m.

The business will temporarily close at some point to use money from sales to finish construction.