Having now listened in on four or five community board meetings regarding the legal cannabis dispensaries, I keep wondering how places called “Rezidue” or “Bud Nation” think they are going to be (in their words) “upscale” or “spa-like.” So far the design aesthetic of the illegal shops — Astroturf on the walls and florescent neon blunts in the windows — doesn’t read that way either.

So when the owner of Dagmar at West Broadway and Spring in Soho reached out and sent pictures, the idea started to come into focus a bit more. And while I wouldn’t ordinarily cover a business this far into Soho, I think it might be a good object lesson for the future of cannabis in Tribeca.

The owner, Jennifer Tzar, 56, is a 20-year Soho resident and a professional stylist and photographer who got into the weed business by accident, got arrested, and then caught the crest of the wave that is legal cannabis in New York State. She got her license last April and opened in December.

A quick backstory because it’s so riveting: About 15 years back, Tzar bought property in Northern California, where all her neighbors were growing weed. She started bringing it back with her and selling it here — quite successfully — until her building caught fire in Soho in the middle of the night. Police found what they said was 10 pounds of pot, arrested her in the morning, and she made local and international news.

Tzar went on to open a bar in Hudson, move to LA, open a bar there, and was plotting her return to New York when a friend suggested she take advantage of her status as a woman with a successful business under her belt and a felony. (The state prioritized people convicted of a marijuana offense for the first 150 licenses.) She won the support of CB2, snagged a license and became the first majority woman-owned cannabis business in the state.

Her shop — three floors at 412 West Broadway in a former gallery — is more of a speakeasy than a retail store, and the design aesthetic plays a huge role in the experience. Think stained-glass lampshades and boucle lounge chairs more than florescent lighting and wire shelving.

“All these bro shops are not tapping into this whole other sophisticated audience,” Jennifer said. “My market is women of Tribeca and Soho — that is the clientele I relate to and want to serve. So many cool people come in — my customers are not just stoners. A lot of them are eating their gummies after their kids go to bed.”

Another feature of note: Tzar has a rope outside, but no armed guard as nearly every applicant who has come before CB1 has proposed. This fact has me concerned: why would any of us want guns in the neighborhood? Tzar said she decided against it.

“I don’t like guns and intimidating men hovering around,” she said. “Instead we have tight cameras and panic buttons.”

To be continued…