Kitty’s Cards & Things isn’t the only Williamsburg business that’s decided to put bongs front and center.
Walk by Los Hermanos bodega at 176 Grand Street, off of Bedford, and you’ll see a new glass display containing…well, glass. Gleaming bongs, pipes and hookahs line the shelves in the window, and they’re priced way higher than the loosies of yore.
The bodega’s owner, Raj, bought it about six months ago and decided to transfer some inventory from his convenience stores on Bedford Avenue (Bedford Exotics and Bedford Magazine & Smokes also feature smoker-friendly glass façades). He says the windows at Los Hermanos will soon feature craft beers as well.
That bodega isn’t the only one to get a “bake”over in recent months. At 177 First Avenue in the East Village, the former First Avenue Grocery is now billing itself primarily as a Smoke Shop, with new display cases inside and out.
Does using bongs as bait actually work? Countermen at all of Raj’s locations seemed to think so (though Action Bronson has yet to pay a visit). And should you find yourself with a bad case of the munchies, Los Hermanos still slings sandos.