Munkey Business

Within, I’d say, a few seconds of listening to Vladimir Bautista speak
about his red-hot New York City-based dispensary and cannabis lifestyle
brand, Happy Munkey, the unfamiliar feeling you’re definitely experiencing
is unabashed inspiration. This Vlad dude is dope.

Bautista and longtime business partner and high school friend Ramon Reyes
have transformed Happy Munkey into more than a storefront dispensary: It’s
the pride of a culture, a neighborhood and a city. These guys even brought
two Clio Awards to Dyckman Street in the Heights. Now *that’s* cool.

With a second location in the heart of downtown Brooklyn—a stone’s throw
from the Barclay Center, home of the NBA’s Nets and NHL’s Islanders—Happy
Munkey serves up quality flower, pre-rolls, edibles, tinctures,
concentrates, vapes and more. But what a list of top-shelf products can’t
convey is the level of swag (or is it rizz?) the entire Happy Munkey
experience is. Its NYC authenticity comes at you from every square inch of
the shop to every word from its proprietors. In 2024, Happy Munkey *feels*
like New York because it *is* New York. In fact, the pride of Inwood’s
owners and motto are one and the same: “We don’t do it for the clout, we do
it for the culture.”
PHOTO Jordan Hiraldo

So, then, is Happy Munkey a global brand in its infancy? Is the Starbucks
model the desired expansion plan for the cool brand? “Not really,” Bautista
says. “Maybe it’s a bit more like, say, TAO nightclubs, where they only
open a few clubs in very select locations with world-class results.”

A TAO-like cannabis HQ sounds pretty rad, right? How about a reality show
based on Happy Munkey, then? Bautista smiles mischievously and reveals that
they’ve been filming behind-the-scenes for about 18 months or so. “You
never know,” he says.
PHOTO Jordan Hiraldo

Bautista says he and Reyes (and the entire Happy Munkey family) have a
passion for the plant and its medicinal properties, and they are, in fact,
advocates for cannabis legalization and education. Bautista tells me that
Happy Munkey’s genesis comes from a desire to provide safe, legal cannabis
to the community that’s given so much to them.

As a lifestyle brand, Happy Munkey is making moves well beyond their
dispensaries—as great as those are—into podcasting (“The Happy Munkey
Podcast”), merchandising, television (“Munkey TV”) and, for a while, even
magazines (*Munkey Biz*).

Happy Munkey does so much more than see, hear or speak no evil. This
elevated cannabis 360 experience brings joy, quality and success back to
the very place they call home. That’s *Nueva York*, baby!

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