City takes prospective vendors for Mamdani's planned $30M NYC-owned grocery store on tour - of vacant lot.
https://t.co/Mz1RSq6zHJ pic.twitter.com/7a8qRu9Da7— New York Post (@nypost) August 19, 2026
Posted on 08/20/2026 8:10:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plan to open five government-controlled grocery stores – one for each borough! – is going about as well as you'd expect a taxpayer-funded socialist supermarket experiment would go.
Not great.
On Wednesday, city officials took a group of prospective vendors to tour the site of the Harlem store, dressing them up in hardhats and high-visibility vests. Everyone was ready for a muddy-boots tour of the construction site, hyped to be wowed by this socialist utopia coming to life.
They were greeted by an empty parking lot with no construction whatsoever. Even worse, there was trash blowing across the vacant lot and nary a sign to suggest Mamdani’s socialist supermarket was arriving anytime soon.
Big Apple officials took prospective bidders on a pathetic tour Wednesday of a trash-strewn empty lot in East Harlem where Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s planned $30 million city-owned grocery store is supposed to become reality.
The bidders wore hardhats on the city Economic Development Corporation-led tour to the under-the-Metro-North viaduct site next to La Marqueta, despite no work actually being done yet.
City takes prospective vendors for Mamdani's planned $30M NYC-owned grocery store on tour - of vacant lot.
https://t.co/Mz1RSq6zHJ pic.twitter.com/7a8qRu9Da7— New York Post (@nypost) August 19, 2026
The vendors didn't seem one bit impressed by what they saw, with some voicing doubt about participating in Mamdani's scheme. Others left the door open, but there are conditions that need to be met.
“We are very cautiously optimistic about this potential project and what this potential project means to the community and food deserts,” said Phillip Grant, founder and CEO of business consulting firm Phillip Grant & Associates.
“It has to be a full, transparent partnership. We also have to get the public involved. There’s other things we have to think about: market forces, transportation, weather. So we have to ensure whatever model an operator like myself or a group that we put together build, that it can be flexible enough to adapt to those concerns.”
One local reporter who tagged along on the field trip talked to one prospective vendor who said he was happy that the mayor was doing something about rising food prices, but said he wouldn't like to be put in the position of competing with the government-run stores.
I spoke with grocery owner interested in Mayor Mamdani's city-run stores
"I'm glad that the mayor did address it, because a lot of people are struggling with these food prices"
But would he have liked to compete with one?
"Candidly, I wouldn't" pic.twitter.com/EevXxemp0Q— Dan Rivoli (@danrivoli) August 19, 2026
Of course he wouldn’t.
Private grocers and bodegas have to cover expensive things like rent, property taxes, payroll, utilities, insurance, and the full cost of their inventory; they then price their goods to cover those costs and maybe make a profit. Mamdani’s Socialist Safeways, by contrast, would have their costs absorbed or subsidized by taxpayers, allowing them to price their wares low and force competitors out of business.
The mayor's office is trying to ease the fears of Big Apple grocers by promising them – via the "lead official for Mayor Mamdani's NYC Groceries" – that there will be taxpayer money and free stuff for them, too. Everyone gets a handout!
Lead official for Mayor Mamdani's NYC Groceries tells me city may give grants to local grocers fearing competition from city-run stores
"policies and programs, grants, incentives that can come alongside these grocery stores to support other local independent businesses" pic.twitter.com/S57e8Ne13B— Dan Rivoli (@danrivoli) August 19, 2026
This vow by the city to "come alongside" them doesn't seem to be easing the minds of immigrant-owned grocery stores. A coalition of them plan to sue to stop the city from using taxpayer dollars to bankroll competitors that can offer artificially low prices while avoiding the costs private grocers have to absorb to keep their doors open.
That empty lot strewn with garbage is an apt metaphor for Mamdani’s grocery scheme: a socialist dream with a big price tag and not much reality underneath it.
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The story is actually at the New York Post?
Who owned that parking lot sold to the city?
While the Mayor piles the taxes on that makes the food prices high ,LOL
Sounds like Mad-Dani will have to increase taxes to keep his fake supermarkets open ,LOL
I wouldn’t be too worried about "public involvement." Cannot wait for those who have mastered the five-finger-discount to demonstrate their skills.
Mamdani is on the verge of converting New York City into a Category Five Hurricane Disaster Area.
'it'd be a shame if we put you out of business ... here, just apply for our tax-funded grant ... just tell us all about your business methods, your profit margin, your marketing tactics ... you get our blessing to continue ... we learn a little bit about you for both our benefits ... just don't make us regret bringing you into our one happy family, you know, our thing ... capiche? ... '
That upper left picture is worth a thousand words showing what an utter failure this project will be. Three stupid looking 20 year olds who got a sociology degree at a liberal college with a DEI scholarship are going to be the ones running thos as city staffers making 1 million a year.
NYC only has the following options if she wants to spend more on these social experiments: INCREASE TAXES, GO INTO ADDITIONAL DEBT, or ... SELL ASSETS TO RAISE MONEY.
Unfortunately, unlike the Federal Government, NYC cannot print money, that would have been the other option. Well, she can also ask the REST OF THE COUNTRY to subsidize her spending by going to Washington DC for help.
The other alternative is to abandon all of these socialist spending schemes, but that’s what the voters in the city want by handling Mamdani a huge victory last November.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Something’s gotta give.
If they find anything to steal. It occurs to me that the employees of these grocery stores may get the best stuff first, before it ever sees the shelves.
Of course. The employer, employees and friends get all the desirable stuff for next to nothing, then they will go sell it on the black market just under the price of the products at the privately owned stores.
The private stores get pushed out by being undercut.
Regular people still end up paying much the same prices for much less selection.
My Polish girlfriend’s grandmother was in charge of their city’s food store. They always ate well and got the best food. Because of course. Grandmother always got the best. Christmas they would even get a single banana that got imported with some politician who would bring some from Cuba.
Why build a new supermarket when there are numerous empty buildings across NYC.
Who is getting the kickbacks?
Not a single one of them could run a Kool-Aid stand let alone a store.
The contractors will all be stiffed.
A whole banana at Christmas time? I was expecting you to say a turkey or a ham. But, if bananas were rare, that would be a treat.
A whole banana at Christmas time? I was expecting you to say a turkey or a ham. But, if bananas were rare, that would be a treat.
whoops the double got me sorry
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