The Jersey City Council approved Xena dispensary in McGinley Square on the West Side to open the first legal cannabis consumption lounge in the city.

Xena CEO Haytham Elgawly opened the dispensary last year in April 2025, and the lounge space was finished. So then-Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh posed with Elgawly in the space during the Grand Opening, depicted above. No one consumed during the festivities.

Jersey City Cannabis Lounge Details Questions

They first debated the issue during their Caucus on Monday before voting on Wednesday.

Commerce Director Maynard Woodson explained the resolution for Xena dispensary to have a cannabis consumption area on Bergen Ave in McGinley Square.

He noted the Jersey City Cannabis Control Board (CCB) had already approved it.

“It’s indoor only, correct?” At Large Councilperson Michael Griffin asked.

“Correct,” Woodson replied.

“Is there a geographic limitation of lounges to schools? …Hudson Catholic is across the street,” Ward C Councilperson Tom Zuppa noted.

“That was all resolved in court,” Woodson said. “There was an agreement. It’s like 200 feet…”

“The consumption has very limited hours. It’s in the basement. Its already built out,” Woodson said. “Is this going to be the first consumption lounge for our city?”

“Yes,” he noted. “We only allow one per ward.”

Ward B Councilperson Joel Brooks asked about hours.

“Noon to 11,” Woodson replied.

“Are food or beverages permitted to be served?” Brooks asked.

“No,” Woodson said.

Brooks asked about ventilation.

Woodson noted they need specific special ventilation, which was installed.

“This lounge is like plug and play?” Brooks asked.

“Yes,” Woodson said.

Other Side Dispensary Lounge Issues

Woodson explained that the Other Side Dispensary also wanted a consumption area on 36 Congress St in the Heights in the north of the city.

“Since then… we were told they have closed,” he said.

“So we’re looking to pull this?” City Council President Denise Ridley asked.

Woodson asked Corporation Counsel Sarah M. Levine to confirm they owe taxes.

“We can look into it…,” Levine said.

“This is a business owner who has been going through a lot of red tape… for years and years…,” Ward D Councilperson Jake Ephros noted. “The business owner still feels the need and desire to have this license…”

Woodson noted they previously closed for a week.

“They were somewhat non-committal on the tax payment, which I was concerned about…,” he said.

“If this business is not operating… we’re just holding someone else up… in Ward D,” Griffin said. “…How does that work?”

Woodson said no one else reported wanting a lounge in Ward D.

He added that the city licensing fee for a lounge is $25,000, and the state fee is $10,000. So he didn’t think it popular.

Other Side Dispensary Lounge Resolution Withdrawn

During the final City Council vote, Ward F Councilperson Frank “Educational” Gilmore asked, “As it relates to the Other Side dispensary, does it still hold true that they haven’t paid their tax revenue?”

“They’re still outstanding taxes for that item. We are going to ask to withdraw those,” Acting Business Administrator Peter Horton said.

Ephros said the business owner, Dr. Alyza Brevard Rodriguez, and her lawyer, Rosemarie Moyeno Matos, sent a letter before the meeting started.

“We have not had time to properly review. It is my advice the Administration withdraws this item,” Levine said.

Xena Cannabis Lounge Approved

“I recognize the owner of Xena is here. He gave me and my staff a tour of the consumption lounge. …,” Brooks explained.

“…With respect to Haytham, this is a guy born and raised in Jersey City. He wants to give back to the city. Excited to work with him on the West Side,” he said. “This is a highly, highly regulated industry. We are getting tax dollars back…”

Xena’s cannabis consumption lounge was then approved 9-0 by the Jersey City Council.

NJ Cannabis Lounges

The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission must still approve them to open the lounge.

High Rollers and Sunnytien in Atlantic City, along with Gynsyng in Merchantville near Philadelphia, opened the first three NJ cannabis lounges the same week last year, in July 2025.

Urb’n dispensary in Newark opened the fourth lounge in New Jersey and the first in the North in February 2026.

So, Xena will be the first in Jersey City and Hudson County and the 5^th overall in Jersey.