The Jersey City Council is holding off on voting on the renewal of Downtown Flwr’s cannabis dispensary license renewal due to alleged poor working conditions.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
During the July 15th meeting of the Jersey City Council, they debated a resolution to renew Downtown Flwr’s cannabis license and ultimately withdrew it. The resolution did not return to this evening’s agenda.
At their last meeting, Ward B Councilman Joel Brooks asked what would happen if they didn’t renew them.
“These renewals are required. I can’t speak to the particular timeline of any consequences that would flow from that. That’s something we can look into and report to the council on,” Corporation Counsel Sarah Levine replied.
“I think I’d like to hear more about this particular business. I can only speak for myself,” Brooks said.
“Is there a time by which we have to approve of these renewals?” Council President Denise Ridley asked.
“Not that I’m aware of. I’m amenable to withdrawing,” replied Assistant Business Administrator Peter Horton said
Business Administrator Ruby Choi also said it was okay to withdraw the measure.
When asked about his concerns, Brooks told HCV in an email “We are investigating issues related to treatment of employees.”
Downtown Flwr was approved at a June 2026 meeting of the Jersey City Cannabis Control Board (CCB) meeting for renewal.
At that meeting, CCB attorney Ron Mondello explained, “They had no issue paying their two percent municipal tax. There has been absolutely no complaints” prior to a unanimous renewal (5-0).
Back in April, an alleged Downtown Flwr worker anonymously posted a horror story of working there on Reddit.
“I began working at Downtown Flwr in November 2025. I was initially hired under the understanding that I would be working full-time hours, which at this company typically meant around 30–35 hours per week. At first, that expectation was met,” the alleged employee wrote.
“However, after additional staff were hired, my hours gradually decreased to about 20–25 hours per week, which is more consistent with part-time work. For context, I maintained my primary job at a restaurant throughout my time at the dispensary, so while the reduction in hours was frustrating, it did not leave me without income.”
The anonymous poster, who uses the Reddit name “brujaluv,” added that a manager left on January 15th due to a lack of hot water, insufficient heating, as well as concerns about overall safety, scheduling, and operations that persisted through at least early April.
“A recurring concern among staff was the management style—decisions often felt inflexible, and communication could come across as passive-aggressive rather than solution-oriented,” the post also said.
“There were also instances where employees felt that reasonable documentation for absences (such as medical notes or court-related obligations) was not accepted due to very specific or unclear requirements, resulting in disciplinary action. Situations like these contributed to a sense of inconsistency and frustration among staff.”
This poster said they had been ultimately been terminated after they had allegedly been moved from a closing shift to an opening shift with no notice, with the reason for the firing being a no-show with no call.
Downtown Flwr first received its license from the Jersey City Cannabis Control Board while known as Oceanfront Holdings in July 2022 after initially being heard at a previous CCB meeting that month.
While known as Oceanfront Holdings, the company was approved for a resolution from the Jersey City Council needed to open a dispensary in September 2022. They were among the first 50 NJ adult-use cannabis dispensaries to open in August 2023.
Co-owner Benny Shabtai faced scrutiny earlier this year when his name came up multiple times in the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the U.S. Department of Justice, with emails indicating that they started associating in 2008.
Shabtai had a government position in Israel and Epstein decided to get to know him since he was eager to do business there, per emails.
Emails also show that Shabtai invited Epstein to his wedding in 2015, though there are no signs of any criminality or wrongdoing.
However, Shabtai’s former stepdaughter, Samantha Cooper, filed a lawsuit in November 2023 accusing him of sexual harassing her, as the New York Post reported.
“He traveled with his good friend Jeffrey Epstein to Israel where they had secret meetings with the Israeli army in order for them to fund covert operations and therefore, could harm Samantha Cooper and get away with it if she didn’t do as he said,” Cooper alleged in the suit at the time.
City spokesman Nathaniel Styer declined to comment on the license renewal situation, while Shabtai could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
