{"id":49920,"date":"2026-04-13T22:57:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=49920"},"modified":"2026-04-13T22:57:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:57:43","slug":"mamdanis-30m-plan-to-open-nyc-owned-supermarket-stuns-grocery-executives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=49920","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani&#8217;s $30M plan to open NYC-owned supermarket stuns grocery executives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan to build <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/12\/us-news\/nycs-first-city-owned-grocery-store-under-lefty-mayor-mamdani-to-open-in-east-harlem-report\/\">a $30 million, city-owned grocery store in Harlem <\/a>next year has stunned supermarket executives \u2014 who note that the lavishly-priced project looks like a threat to the neighborhood\u2019s already-struggling grocers, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n<p>Hizzoner unveiled his plan to open the first of five such taxpayer-funded stores \u2013 a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/07\/01\/us-news\/zohran-mamdani-wants-to-pay-for-government-grocery-stores-with-money-that-doesnt-exist\/\">cornerstone of his campaign<\/a> last fall to slash food prices for lower-income residents \u2013 during <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/12\/us-news\/zohran-mamdani-pats-himself-on-the-back-with-100-days-bash-speech-as-critics-call-it-massive-insecurity\/\">a speech on Sunday marking his first 100 days in office.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated his first 100 days as mayor on Sunday. <span class=\"credit\">James Keivom for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI almost fell back when I saw the $30 million number,\u201d Anthony Pena, president of the National Supermarket Association, told The Post. \u201cEven a high end, gourmet store in the middle of Manhattan wouldn\u2019t cost that much to build.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Avi Kaner, the former owner of New York\u2019s 17-store Morton Williams grocery chain, said \u201c$30 million is an awful lot to spend to build one supermarket.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kaner and Pena both said that a typical, 15,000-square-foot store without elevators or escalators costs under $10 million to build.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>But it was the location of the store that raised even greater concerns with some executives. The city-owned store will be built on an empty lot next to La Marqueta, a decades-old, city-owned marketplace located under the Metro North railroad tracks at the corner of East 115th Street and Park Avenue.<\/p>\n<p>The problem: The new location is far from qualifying as a so-called \u201cfood desert\u201d \u2014 a struggling neighborhood where supermarket closures have made groceries hard to come by.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, there are already five grocery stores within a two-block radius of La Marqueta, including Fine Fare, City Fresh and Cherry Valley, according to NSA data. Fifteen stores are located within five blocks of the site.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <span class=\"credit\">NY Post Design<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The first city-owned grocery store will open in E. Harlem at La Marqueta. <span class=\"credit\">Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It\u2019s a \u201cslap in the face\u201d to the city\u2019s struggling independent grocers and \u201cthose store owners are furious,\u201d Pena said. He added that it\u2019s hard to cut prices \u201cwhen your property taxes are going up by 10%.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Their numbers are dwindling \u2013 down to 400 from nearly 500 in 2021 \u2013 due to the high cost of doing business in the city and a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/22\/business\/an-armed-gang-of-shoplifters-is-terrorizing-nyc-supermarkets-and-grocers-say-nypd-is-ignoring-the-rampage\/\">persistent shoplifting problem<\/a>, according to Pena.<\/p>\n<p>The city did not disclose the size of the Harlem store. The $30 million represents the capital investment for the ground-up construction of the first store, according to the mayor\u2019s office. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A Cherry Valley supermarket is located within 2 blocks of what will be the city\u2019s first owned grocery store. <span class=\"credit\">Google Maps<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some 65,000 residents live within a 10-minute walk of La Marqueta and 40% of them are on public assistance, the mayor said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/status\/2043443906084512045\">in a video on X <\/a>promoting the plan.<\/p>\n<p>The operator of the store won\u2019t pay rent or city property taxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe it is fundamentally unfair to use tax dollars \u2014 collected from hardworking citizens and existing local businesses \u2014 to subsidize unproven, government-run endeavors,\u201d said Carlos Collado, a Bronx supermarket owner who is vice president at the city\u2019s Bodega and Small Business Group. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Mayor Mamdani has said that city-owned groceries will offer lower prices than traditional supermarkets. <span class=\"credit\">X\/MorePerfectUS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThese funds would be better spent on infrastructure or direct assistance rather than competing against the private sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Previously, the administration said that its investment in five city-owned grocery stores \u2013 one in each borough \u2013 would cost $70 million.<\/p>\n<p>The mayor said in a statement, \u201cWhen corporations control every part of the food supply chain, prices go up, wages stay flat, and workers and customers both lose. That is why we are advancing a public option \u2014 one rooted in the belief that our city can and must intervene where the market has failed. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot accept a status quo where even the most basic necessity \u2014 putting food on the table \u2014 feels out of reach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>BSBG\u2019s Collado countered that the mayor should instead focus on lowering costs for businesses and offering incentives for private grocers to expand into underserved areas.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A City Fresh supermarket is within a couple of blocks of the planned public grocery store in Harlem. <span class=\"credit\">Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe administration claims these stores are a response to inflation, yet fails to realize that their own constant mandates, regulatory hurdles, and rising fees are significant drivers of the very inflation hurting shoppers today,\u201d Collado said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy using public subsidies, the city creates an uneven playing field,\u201d he added. \u201cLocal independent grocers, who have served these neighborhoods for decades, cannot compete with a government entity that doesn\u2019t have to worry about the same bottom-line pressures or tax obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/13\/business\/mamdanis-30m-plan-to-open-nyc-owned-supermarket-stuns-grocery-executives\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan to build a $30 million, city-owned grocery store in Harlem next year has stunned supermarket executives \u2014 who note that the lavishly-priced&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}