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Strapped New Yorkers swarm chaotic Mamdani-inspired free grocery store pop-up: We’re 'in pain’
foxnews.com ^ | February 19, 2026 | Emma Colton , Kiera McDonald

Posted on 02/19/2026 6:15:54 AM PST by V_TWIN

On Sunday in a busy stretch of restaurants and boutiques in the West Village, hundreds of New Yorkers queued up outside a pop-up shop offering free groceries.

"New Yorkers are in pain," Nick from Queens, New York, one of several people Fox News Digital interviewed outside the pop-up, said as he waited to grab pasta sauce, bath soap and a bag of Tide Pods.

The scene was underscored by the city's cost of living woes and anxiety over who would get a yellow ticket granting entry to the small shop before they "sold out" of goods.

As the crowd grew, however, so did the tension.  People in line told Fox News Digital Sunday that they were worried they’d made the trip for nothing. "I literally got here at 9 o’clock… and basically what they said is that they ran out of tickets," a woman named Fatima told Fox News Digital.  Another man, Sherrod from Jamaica, Queens, said the same happened to him. 

"They told me that they ran out of tickets," he said. "I couldn’t get no more food.… I couldn’t get access to the store."

As the crowd grew, however, so did the tension.

People in line told Fox News Digital Sunday that they were worried they’d made the trip for nothing.

"I literally got here at 9 o’clock… and basically what they said is that they ran out of tickets," a woman named Fatima told Fox News Digital.

Fatima and Sherrod spoke after security guards began pushing people off the block shortly after 9 a.m., when the first batch of tickets was gone. Several shoppers said they were told to leave the area and come back around 1:30 p.m. for another chance — and not to linger on the sidewalk as ticket-holders moved through the store.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: food; freestuff; newyork; petfood
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To: j.havenfarm

I am in Florida and haven’t been able to afford store bought orange juice since 2010. It’s about 3 times more expensive than other juices.

Unfortunately disease spread by uninspected trade with China also wiped out my own citrus orchard and my neighbors’ too. All I have left of 37 trees is a scruffy looking limequat tree.


81 posted on 02/19/2026 9:38:52 AM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: Brian Griffin

I saw something the other day that stated it’s up to $42k per student, because the number of students has declined by 10 percent.


82 posted on 02/19/2026 9:43:25 AM PST by FoxInSocks ("Hope is not a course of action." — M. O'Neal, USMC)
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To: dljordan

Where are the vaunted NYPD?


There are only 35,000 when they need 40,000; only Mamdami social workers are need in situations like this.

/s


83 posted on 02/19/2026 9:43:37 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: V_TWIN

Handing out stuff for free always gathers a crowd.


84 posted on 02/19/2026 10:16:13 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: V_TWIN

pop-up shop offering free groceries.


https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how-to-open-pop-up-shop/

How to Open a Pop-up Shop in 10 Steps


85 posted on 02/19/2026 10:18:42 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued, but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere)
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To: Carry_Okie

In the process, I got to know some “rich kids” (Catholic and Jewish, respectively). Children do a wonderful job of betraying the emotional sensibilities of their parents. Again, they were spotty. Among them were some truly fine people: gracious, polite, studious... what one would hope for among an “upper class.” Yet the majority were spoiled, vindictive, bratty, shallow, and really not that smart.


The difference might be first generation rich vs............


86 posted on 02/19/2026 10:23:14 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued, but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere)
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To: V_TWIN

RE: As the crowd grew, however, so did the tension.

When the Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped, raped, tortured and brainwashed the Hearst fortune heir Patty Hearst, one of the leftist demands was free food to be distributed to the downtrodden black people by the wealthy father.

After initial packages were given out, more and more people fought each other to take from what the other people had. It got more and more violent. Then the leftist group leaders called it off because the news footage made the ghetto people look greedy and violent.

From 1974 news reports: History.com and others.

Randolph Hearst pledged $2 million in food ($1.5 million from the Hearst Foundation, $0.5 million personally).
Demands: Initially, the SLA demanded $70 worth of food for every needy person, which could have cost up to $400 million.

Food packages included chicken, spam, canned beef stew, cabbage, biscuit mix, fruit, and nuts.

Distribution occurred at 10 to 16 centers in San Francisco, Oakland, Richmond, and East Palo Alto.

The demand overwhelmed the supply, leading to riots, chaos, and injury, with food sometimes thrown from trucks.
The program ran for nearly a month, but the SLA ultimately refused to release Patty Hearst, calling the effort “inadequate”.
History.com


I was always on her side, enraged by the leftists and wanted her “not guilty” in court. No dice. She went to prison. After brainwashing. Jury convicted her for a 7 year sentence.

President Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence to the 22 months she had already served, releasing her in February 1979.
Full Pardon (2001): On his last day in office, President Clinton granted a full pardon, removing all remaining punishment and restoring her civil rights.
Significance: Hearst is noted as the first person in U.S. history to have a sentence commuted by one president and receive a full pardon from another.


87 posted on 02/19/2026 10:28:51 AM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: suthener

Free grocery store....

Mamdani is young and totally inexperienced.

Trump would advise him: Make the stores Mamdani People’s Food Outlets. Get your name on them. (kidding).


88 posted on 02/19/2026 10:31:15 AM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: PeterPrinciple
but you have to work for it.

Millions of people have never worked. There was a 60 Minutes episode in the 1990s of a young guy who was asked for his main ambition and goal in life. He said he wanted to get another year older because then he could establish his own individual welfare benefits account, free from his mother's account. Freedom and independence for him..

I can't remember the total but for another case the kid was something like "the fifth generation born and raised on welfare in the city" since the elderly grandparents took early benefits.

82% (some said 80%) of current Somali people in Minneapolis are on government income and food and health benefits ("welfare" as we called it.)

5 million people in Los Angeles are on CalFresh (for being in government defined poverty).

Michigan. When SNAP,Medicaid, state emergency relief, and cash welfare—are included, about one-third of Michigan residents receive some form of aid, totaling over 3.3 million people in 2023.

89 posted on 02/19/2026 10:40:33 AM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: V_TWIN

Good. These dumb asses voted for this, let them reap the results. Remember the great sage Obama - “elections have consequences”


90 posted on 02/19/2026 10:47:00 AM PST by falcon99 ( )
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To: frank ballenger

“Free grocery store....Mamdani is young and totally inexperienced.”

This was a private company doing some sort of promotion. It actually didn’t have anything to with Mandami or whatever his name is.


91 posted on 02/19/2026 10:49:23 AM PST by suthener ( I do not like living under our homosexual, ghetto, feminist government.)
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To: suthener

Sorry, I didn’t mean to post something that tarnished Mamdani’s name through my ignorance. 😇

You’re right.


92 posted on 02/19/2026 11:05:30 AM PST by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: Brian Griffin
NYC spends about $38,000/year/kid on K-12 public education.
NYC puts invaders up in expensive hotel rooms.

NY state (20m) has fewer residents than FL (23m).
NY state ($132bn) has a state budget that is almost twice as large as FL ($78bn).
NY state runs an annual deficit, while FL shows none.

Got that? Fewer people, more money, and STILL can't make it work.

In fact, FL is #3 in population, but is # NINE by budget!!!

AC and TX are #1 and #2 in both categories, but look what comes up after that...

WA is #13 in population but #4 in budget...
VA is #12 in population and #5 in budget.
OH is #7 and #6, nice and normal...
MINN is #22 in population, and #7 in budget!!!
ORE is #27 in population, and #8 in budget!!

Gee.... what do WA, VA, MN, and OR have in common? HMMMMMMMM!

Kudos to PA, #5 in population and #14 in budget ($53bn)

When broken down by spending per person, Alaska is by far the #1, and for obvious reasons... the oil money. But 9 of the next 10 are all "Blue States", with WY being the only exception at #7... and yet WY has the only AAA S&P rating among the top 13 states.

In order, by spending per person:
AK (oil money, duh)
OR
HI
VT
MN
CA (AA- rating)
WY (the only AAA credit rating from S&P until #14 MD)
WA
CT (AA- rating)
MASS
NY
All those states are AA+ rating, unless specific otherwise(

93 posted on 02/19/2026 11:12:11 AM PST by Teacher317
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To: PeterPrinciple
The difference might be first generation rich vs............

That is certainly more true now (compared to over the bulk of the last century or so) because Internet wealth can be virtually instantaneous. It took Rockefeller decades to build his company.

94 posted on 02/19/2026 11:17:49 AM PST by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Carry_Okie

Our social meltdown as precipitated by that upper class.

Not so sure about that some in all ranks of our society are pro socialism Marxism and down right communism with a hatred for America and what it stands for.

They are like the jerks that scratches other people cars with a lack of morals with no respect for anything.
Bad seeds 100%.


95 posted on 02/19/2026 11:57:36 AM PST by Vaduz (NEVER TRUST A DEMOCRAT)
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To: V_TWIN

Sounds like the USSR in my memory. Line up for bread and butter, when it runs out and people are ticked off, arrest them.


96 posted on 02/19/2026 12:08:35 PM PST by Glad2bnuts
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To: Carry_Okie

“Strapped” New Yorkers…

Chuckle… I’m “strapped” everyday, everywhere I go. A G17 w/17 rounds u derthe left arm, and two spare mags under the right, and a SW 642 backup either in small of back or next the seat (in car)…

But I don’t think that’s the kind of “strapped” they are referring to… Since it’s NYC and they voted a communist Muslim into power.


97 posted on 02/19/2026 1:24:52 PM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: NFHale

A fine “strapping” character you make.


98 posted on 02/19/2026 1:27:38 PM PST by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Carry_Okie

I Am quite good-looking… now that you pointed it out

Charming too…

Very charismatic…

Extremely talented…

And exceedingly humble… Modesty is one of my better qualities…

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


99 posted on 02/19/2026 1:41:08 PM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: V_TWIN

How’s that warm embrace of collectivism doing for you?


100 posted on 02/19/2026 1:50:47 PM PST by The Great RJ
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