October in New York hits different — crisp air, playoff weather, the city buzzing. This week we're running the bases with a strain named for a Queens legend, pointing you to a Comic Con pop-up and Pier 36, and breaking down the rescheduling plot twist in plain English. Light one up and let's get into it.

Darryl Strawberry

You don't name a strain Darryl Strawberry unless you mean New York. The Straw Man lit up Shea in '86, carried the Mets to a title, then crossed the city to rep the Bronx — a true five-tool New Yorker. This flower swings the same way: sweet and loud up front, serious when it counts.

A small-batch indoor cross of Pancakes and Strawberry Kush, it opens on ripe strawberry over soft cream with a light gas finish on the back end. Dense, hand-trimmed buds, cured for structure — a balanced hybrid that's smooth enough for a slow afternoon and strong enough to go the distance. Grown indoors in small runs the way we do everything: no shortcuts, all New York.

Terp Bros — Astoria & Ozone Park

Queens heads, this one's yours. Terp Bros Ozone Park turns 1 on Sat, Oct 10, and Terp Bros Astoria throws Ditmars After Dark for its 3rd on Sat, Oct 24. Two neighborhood shops that actually know their shelf — a perfect spot to go hunting for Toke Folks. Roll through, say what's up, and ask what we've got in.

There's a licensed weed pop-up across from Comic Con

Chelsea's Poppin is running a licensed pop-up dispensary right across from the Javits Center for New York Comic Con, Oct 8–11, stocked with NY-grown cultivators. Cosplay, crowds, and legal flower in one block — peak NYC. 21+ with valid ID, free to walk up.

Hall of Flowers lands at Pier 36

The big cannabis showcase rolls into Pier 36 on the Lower East Side Oct 21–22 — brands, buyers and the culture all under one roof on the water. If you want a read on where NY weed is headed, this is the room.

Brooklyn's getting another legal shop

OC Dispensary is opening a new Brooklyn location at Coney Island Ave & Church Ave this month — more licensed doors in the borough means more shelves for small-batch NY brands and fewer reasons to chase the legacy market. Good for everybody.

Rescheduling hit the brakes — but it's a pause, not a no

The federal judge weighing the move from Schedule I to III hit the brakes on Sept 29 after a watchdog flagged gaps in the review, with the feds due to respond by Oct 13. Translation: the long-awaited reform is stalled on procedure, not dead — and nothing changes at your NY dispensary counter either way.

A hemp-law change is coming Nov 12

A federal hemp-law shift set for Nov 12 is expected to sharply narrow the market for intoxicating hemp-derived THC — the gas-station stuff. Short version for New York smokers: the gray-market loophole tightens, which makes lab-tested flower from licensed NY shops the clean, known-quantity play.