The mayor says the stores are meant to make food more affordable, but bodega owners warn they could hurt private businesses.
Mamdani says the first store could open as soon as next year in East Harlem with the goal of additional stores in the other four boroughs by the end of his term. He says the stores are meant to make food more affordable, but bodega owners warn they could hurt private businesses.
On Monday, residents in East Harlem said a city-run supermarket would make their lives easier by making groceries more affordable. 'They need somewhere convenient so people could go and say, 'Yes, I can buy, you know, this and that,' and still have money for the next couple of weeks to buy some more food,' a resident said. 'But that'd be a great idea here.'
On Sunday night, Mayor Mamdani marked 100 days in office by doubling down on a campaign promise to open a series of five stores in the coming years. 'The first one will open next year, stores where prices are fair, where workers are treated with dignity, and where New Yorkers can actually afford to shop at our stores,' Mamdani said. 'Eggs will be cheaper. Bread will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation.'
'Now, some will insist that city-owned businesses do not work, the government cannot keep up with corporations,' Mamdani said. 'My answer to them is simple. I look forward to the competition.'
Critics say city-run supermarkets will hurt ordinary bodega owners and could even produce chaotic lines for cheaper groceries. 'These stores are going to get jam packed, they're only four or five in the entire city of 8 million people,' said Fernando Mateo with United Bodegas of America. 'What do you expect is going to happen? You're going to have people rushing to these stores early in the morning to late at night, waiting on long lines. You know, it's going to be more turmoil than anything else. It's a great punch line for him and for the socialist movement. But New York is not a socialist city.'
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