Before it sold cannabis, the storefront at 145-18 14th Avenue in Whitestone was NYC Print and Design, a local business run by Jose Verdaguer. In 2024 he converted it into IGNYTE, which local outlet QNS reported as Whitestone's first licensed cannabis retailer. State license data dates its first day of sales to August 2, 2024, and it celebrated with a ribbon-cutting and a day-long grand opening that included giveaways, educational sessions, music, free ice cream, and cocktails from The Stonebridge, a neighborhood bar.
From print shop to Whitestone's first dispensary
Verdaguer's path is a good example of how New York's licensing rollout actually played out for small operators. According to QNS's July 2024 report, he first applied for a CAURD license in 2022, then reapplied in 2023 under the general adult-use retail program, and was approved in April 2024. The license on file today is OCM-RETL-24-000077, held by Cannabis Group NY, LLC.
QNS also reported that Verdaguer has a background in cultivation and has worked with California growers. IGNYTE's own site leans into that, describing the company as built by "New York legacy retailers and growers" with decades of cultivation and product knowledge, and positioning itself as an independent alternative to corporate chains.
Why the license took two tries
Verdaguer's switch from CAURD to a general license mirrors a wider shift in New York's rollout. CAURD licenses were limited to applicants with a cannabis-related conviction in their own history or their family's, plus business experience. When the state opened its broader adult-use retail application window in late 2023, it drew thousands of applicants who didn't fit that mold. IGNYTE's license, issued April 25, 2024, came from the early batch of that general round — the "RETL" prefix in its number reflects that.
The practical upshot for shoppers is nothing: CAURD and general adult-use retailers sell the same tested, tracked product under the same rules. But it helps explain why Whitestone, which had no conditional licensees nearby, waited until mid-2024 for its first legal shop.
Education as the house style
Verdaguer told QNS he wanted customers to see "a different approach to cannabis," and the store's plans at launch reflected that: weekly educational classes on cannabis formats, plus a product range that went beyond flower to include tinctures, oral products, vegan edibles and jellies. Whether those classes still run weekly is worth confirming by phone, but the emphasis on explanation is the thread that runs through the shop's public identity.
The current menu, per IGNYTE's site, covers premium flower, pre-rolls and infused joints, gummies and edibles, cartridges and disposables, live rosin and other concentrates, and CBD and wellness items. If you are curious about the solventless end of the case, our guide to live rosin explains what you are paying a premium for, and our CBD vs. THC primer helps sort out the wellness shelf.
Two boroughs, two storefronts
IGNYTE now runs a second shop at 387 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. That store holds its own adult-use license (OCM-RETL-24-000033) and opened to the public in April 2025, according to OCM. The two locations share branding and a website but serve very different neighborhoods: residential, car-oriented northeast Queens on one side, and Red Hook's waterfront strip of bars, warehouses and restaurants on the other.
The Red Hook store, briefly
The Brooklyn IGNYTE sits on Van Brunt Street, Red Hook's main commercial strip, and OCM lists its license under a separate company, Upstate Edge, LLC, categorized as a service-disabled veteran-owned business. Red Hook has no subway; most visitors arrive by bus, bike, car, or the NYC Ferry landing at Atlantic Basin. The Brooklyn store's phone number is (347) 289-5555, and its posted hours generally run from midday until midnight on weekdays, though they vary by day, so check before going.
Late hours and the delivery map
The Whitestone store keeps some of the latest posted hours in the area. IGNYTE's Queens contact page lists:
- Monday: 10 a.m.–midnight
- Tuesday–Thursday: 9 a.m.–midnight
- Friday: 9 a.m.–1 a.m.
- Saturday: 10 a.m.–1 a.m.
- Sunday: 10 a.m.–11 p.m.
Directory listings have shown different hours at times, so call (929) 650-0420 before a late-night run.
Delivery is where IGNYTE extends its reach. Per the site, the Queens store delivers to Whitestone, Flushing, Bayside, College Point, Fresh Meadows, Douglaston, Jackson Heights and Corona, while the Brooklyn shop covers Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Sunset Park, Boerum Hill and surrounding neighborhoods. Directory listings indicate cash and debit are accepted in store; a 21+ photo ID is required for every purchase, including at the door for delivery.
Checking hours against the state record
One quirk worth flagging for the Whitestone store: the hours IGNYTE files with OCM — for example, 8 a.m. openings on weekdays and an 8 p.m. close on Sundays — don't exactly match the hours on its website. Neither source is necessarily wrong, since shops update schedules seasonally, but it's a good reason to call before an early-morning or late-night trip.
Where it fits in northeast Queens
Whitestone has no subway, and most shoppers arrive by car or the local bus lines that run toward Flushing. For years that made it a gap on the legal map. IGNYTE filled it first, and the field has only recently started to fill in nearby: OCM lists House of Strains II on the Whitestone Expressway and Flushing Cannabis Co. on Roosevelt Avenue, both of which opened in May 2026 in downtown Flushing.
Compared with those newer Flushing shops, IGNYTE's advantages are its head start, its late hours and its quieter residential location, which is easier to reach by car than Main Street Flushing. For a wider look at the borough, see our ranking of the best Queens dispensaries.
A neighborhood that waited
Whitestone is one of the more suburban corners of the five boroughs: detached houses, waterfront parks under the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, and commercial strips oriented around cars. When IGNYTE opened, the nearest legal options for residents meant a trip to central Queens, Long Island City or Manhattan. For older residents and families who'd never set foot in a dispensary, a store run by a familiar local business owner — in a space they'd already walked past for years as a print shop — lowered the barrier considerably. The grand-opening programming, with its educational sessions, was pitched squarely at that audience.
Who it suits
- Whitestone, College Point and Bayside residents who want a nearby shop with a parking-friendly location.
- Night owls, given the midnight-or-later closes most of the week.
- Concentrate and infused pre-roll shoppers who want a menu that goes beyond flower.
- Brownstone Brooklyn delivery customers, via the Red Hook store.
Check the live menu and current deals on IGNYTE's official site, and see what nearby shops are discounting this week via High Today Deals.