At its May 7, 2026 meeting on Long Island, New York's Cannabis Control Board (CCB) approved 32 new adult-use licenses, pushing the statewide count of adult-use licenses issued to 2,259, according to the Office of Cannabis Management's meeting release. The same session cleared 87 adult-use renewals, 20 renewals for Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensees, 28 license amendments and one new CAURD application.
This story looks at the licensing pipeline itself: what the board approves each month, and how many of those licenses turn into open stores. For the sales side of the market, see our look at New York's 2026 sales pace. For the agency's leadership and agenda, see our piece on whether OCM can get the market back on track.
What the board approved on May 7
The 32 approvals leaned toward the middle of the supply chain rather than storefronts:
- Processors: 12
- Retail dispensaries: 11
- Cultivators: 4
- Distributors: 3
- Microbusinesses: 3
Eleven of the 32 applicants (about 36 percent) were Social and Economic Equity (SEE) businesses, a group that includes applicants from communities disproportionately impacted by prohibition, minority-owned and women-owned firms. Across all adult-use licenses, OCM put the SEE share at 56 percent, above the 50 percent goal written into the state's cannabis law.
Acting Executive Director John Kagia framed the meeting as a shift in emphasis. Growth at this stage, he said, "isn't just about adding licenses, it's about building a stable and sustainable market as more operators come online."
Licenses are not the same as open stores
The headline license number overstates how many places a shopper can actually buy. As of the May meeting, OCM counted 530 retail dispensary licenses and 348 CAURD licenses, but said "more than 655" legal dispensaries were open. That gap between licensed and operating retailers has been a constant feature of New York's rollout, driven by the cost of finding a compliant location, local opt-outs, and access to capital in an industry that remains federally illegal.
The October 1 board release put a hard number on the gap: New York has licensed 1,039 adult-use retailers (dispensaries plus microbusinesses allowed to sell), and 712 have reported opening, leaving 327 licensed retailers not yet open. To check whether a specific store is licensed, use OCM's dispensary location verification page or browse licensed dispensaries on High Today.
How the May vote fit the 2026 pattern
The May approval was one of several mid-sized batches this year. Based on OCM's monthly releases, the board approved 20 adult-use licenses in March and 27 in April before May's 32. The May session also coincided with two other market-building steps: Cannabis Showcase Event applications opened May 4 (letting dispensaries sell at approved pop-ups and markets), and New York City opened Phase 2 of the Cannabis NYC Loan Fund, raising maximum loans to $500,000 from $100,000 and widening eligibility to more than 540 licensees.
On the data side, OCM reported more than $553 million in adult-use sales for 2026 through April, and $37.9 million in sales during the week of April 20, with a single-day high of $8.6 million.
Update: October 2026
Since the May 7 meeting, the board has kept approving licenses every month, though in smaller numbers than the spring batches. Totals below come from OCM's releases for each meeting:
| Meeting | New licenses approved | Statewide total |
|---|---|---|
| May 29 | 8 | 2,270 |
| July 2 | 24 | 2,296 |
| August 6 | 25 | 2,322 |
| September 3 | 19 | 2,342 |
| October 1 | 14 | 2,351 |
Open dispensaries rose from about 655 in early May to 664 (late May), 683 (July), 705 (August) and 717 (September), per OCM. The October release switched to a different measure, counting 712 retailers that have reported opening. Our August coverage of the 705 milestone has more on that meeting.
Two October 1 decisions matter most for licensees still working toward opening. First, the board voted to extend the provisional license period: CAURD and adult-use provisional licensees, including provisional licenses issued through December 31, 2027, would have until December 31, 2028 to submit what they still owe for final approval, according to the October 2 OCM release. Second, the board approved a cannabis nursery license application window that opens November 5, 2026 and closes after 50 applications are received.
The SEE share of approvals has stayed high: OCM reported 74 percent of July approvals, 62 percent in August, 65 percent in September and 64 percent in October went to SEE businesses.
What to watch next
- Next board meeting: OCM had not posted the date or location of the next CCB meeting as of its October 2 release; it is expected to be listed at cannabis.ny.gov.
- The 327 unopened retailers: the provisional extension gives many more time, but whether they open will shape store density more than new approvals do.
- Nursery window: applications open November 5, with a 50-submission cap.
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