(Chris Wade, The Center Square) New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday announced the site of the latest city-owned grocery store as the democratic socialist looks to make good on a key campaign pledge.
The 20,000-square-foot store, located in the Bronx’s Hunts Point neighborhood, is part of a $70 million plan that includes opening stores in the city’s five boroughs. The plan calls for hiring a private operator to run the store under the city’s pricing rules. The South Bronx store will be part of a new affordable housing development rising from the site of a former juvenile detention facility.
He said the store, when it opens next year, will help “level the playing field” for shoppers who are struggling to make ends meet in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
“Seventy-seven percent of households in surrounding neighborhoods cannot afford basic needs,” Mamdani said in remarks Monday. “More than 50% of households have relied on public assistance in the last 12 months alone. And when nearby families go shopping for groceries, there are not enough affordable options nearby.”
Mamdani’s push to open city-run grocery stores fulfills a campaign promise for the democratic socialist, whose lefty agenda also includes plans for universal childcare, tuition-free community colleges, and free bus service. Many of those plans have been put on hold as the new mayor grapples with a record budget shortfall.
Under the mayor’s plans, which still require City Council approval, the grocery stores wouldn’t pay rent or property taxes, allowing them to keep their overhead costs down and pass on savings to shoppers, according to the Mamdani administration.
Allowing New York City to get into the grocery store business has plenty of detractors, including the United Bodegas of America, which says it will hurt small businesses and the city’s economy.
John Catsimatidis, CEO of New York City grocery chain Gristedes, has threatened to pull out of the market if Mamdani moves ahead with the plans, saying he couldn’t compete with city-run supermarkets.
In his remarks Monday, Mandani turned a quote from the late Republican President Ronald Reagan upside down to make his argument for the taxpayer-funded bodegas.
“He famously said, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ It’s a good quote, but I disagree. I think nine more terrifying words are actually, ‘I worked all day and can’t feed my family,'” Mamdani said.
“We are going to use the power of government to lower prices and make it easier for New Yorkers to put food on the table,” Mamdani said.
