Good Grades holds a place in New York's legal cannabis history. When it opened on Jamaica Avenue at the end of March 2023, it was the first licensed adult-use dispensary in Queens and one of the first six retail dispensaries in the entire state, according to NBC News. Its owners, cousins Extasy James and Michael James Jr., were widely reported as running the first woman-owned licensed dispensary in New York; NBC described it as the first woman-owned store financially supported by the state's social equity cannabis fund, and Extasy James as one of the first Black women to lead a licensed NYC dispensary.
The family's eligibility for a Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary license came from the program's focus on people affected by cannabis enforcement. NBC reported that Extasy James grew up in the Bronx and that her father was deported over a cannabis offense. Michael James Jr. is an attorney who advises minority business owners. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards made the store's first purchase, a pack of gummies.
From pop-up to Jamaica Avenue fixture
Good Grades launched as a pop-up in a space provided through the state's Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund, the public-private program that renovated storefronts for early CAURD licensees. Epicenter NYC, reporting from the grand opening on March 31, 2023, said more than 100 customers came through on day one and that the shop planned a short closure afterward to finish construction before reopening permanently.
Forbes contributor Janet Burns covered the store twice: first in March 2023, for its decision to offer small, inexpensive "dime bag" packs so legal cannabis could compete with street prices, and again in January 2024, describing it as a community cornerstone with an education-first approach. The store's current license number, per its website, is OCMCAURDP-2023-000007, and the regulator's lookup tool lists it at 162-03 Jamaica Avenue.
Delivery that now reaches Long Island
Good Grades says it has steadily built out same-day delivery since 2025. Its website now lists coverage across Queens neighborhoods from Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans to Astoria, Flushing and Long Island City, plus Nassau and Suffolk counties, with dedicated pages for areas such as Garden City, Huntington, Mineola and Valley Stream, and even JFK and LaGuardia. Delivery fees and minimums vary by ZIP code and are shown at checkout, and customers can choose a scheduled window.
Within Queens, the site calls out neighborhoods including Hollis, St. Albans, Springfield Gardens, Queens Village, Ozone Park, Woodside, Sunnyside and Ridgewood, so coverage reaches well beyond Southeast Queens. The site's FAQ also explains how to change or cancel an order and what happens if an item arrives wrong or damaged, which is useful reassurance for delivery customers. Its learning hub adds plain-language guides on measurements and dosing, such as how many grams are in an eighth and what a 5 mg or 10 mg serving typically feels like for newer consumers.
Menu, rewards and payment
The website's featured brands include Sensei, SUPERDOPE, Electraleaf, Timeless Vapes and OGeez!, and it highlights certificate-of-analysis transparency for lab-tested products. Categories cover flower, vapes, pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates, topicals and accessories. Good Grades Rewards is free to join and offers exclusive deals, drop alerts and birthday rewards. Its FAQ lists credit cards, debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay, tap-to-pay and cash, while its homepage also promotes pay-by-bank as a way to skip ATM fees.
The store's long-running emphasis on education makes it a sensible first stop for newer consumers. If you're starting low, our guides to microdosing cannabis and CBD vs. THC are good companions to a conversation at the counter.
The dime-bag idea, and why it mattered
The 2023 Forbes piece focused on a simple pricing move: small, inexpensive packs designed to compete with what longtime consumers were used to paying on the street. That was a pointed choice in Jamaica, where unlicensed sellers operated openly, as Epicenter NYC's opening-day report noted. By making a low entry price part of its launch, the store gave neighbors a reason to try the licensed market without committing to a full eighth.
The January 2024 Forbes follow-up described how the store's education-first model had settled in. Good Grades says every budtender is trained to walk customers through THC and CBD, terpenes, edible onset times and tolerance, which is the kind of conversation that lowers the odds of a bad first experience.
Recognition beyond the counter
Good Grades' press page also points to City & State New York's 2023 Political Consultants Power 100, which recognized leadership tied to the business, a nod to the policy and advocacy work around New York's licensing rollout. Combined with the national coverage at launch, it makes this one of the most documented CAURD stores in the state.
A culture series filmed in the store
Good Grades also runs an editorial interview series, "3 Things I Can't Smoke Without," filmed at the dispensary, in which artists list the products they keep in rotation. Recent guests on the site include Jadakiss, Jim Jones, Cash Cobain and Dave East. It's an unusual piece of brand-building for a single-store dispensary and reflects the shop's ties to New York hip-hop culture.
Southeast Queens context
The store sits in Jamaica Avenue's busy shopping district, within walking distance of the Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer terminal on the E, J and Z lines and the borough's major bus hub. Epicenter NYC described the block as a crowded commercial corridor with street vendors and fast-food spots, which has been Good Grades' argument from the start: put a legal, tested option where people already shop.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, and the phone number is (718) 416-6767. That 8 p.m. close is earlier than many city dispensaries, so evening shoppers should lean on delivery. Silk Road NYC, at 166-30 Jamaica Avenue a few blocks east, is the nearest licensed competitor on the OCM list. Our roundup of the best Queens dispensaries right now compares more borough options, and High Today's shop locator also covers licensed stores in Nassau and Suffolk.
Who Good Grades suits
This is a natural pick for Southeast Queens residents, first-time and returning consumers who want patient guidance, and Long Island shoppers who'd rather order from a pioneering equity licensee than drive into the city. Anyone who wants to buy from one of the stores that opened New York's legal retail market will find that history here, on Jamaica Avenue. Evening shoppers should keep the 8 p.m. close in mind and order delivery after that, while daytime visitors can combine a stop with errands along one of Queens' busiest shopping streets. Bring ID, and if you're paying by bank link, set it up before you arrive.