Overview
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a short video promoting a city-run grocery “public option” and said the first store would open in 2027 with all five targeted by 2029.
- The program sets aside $70 million, with the first site a 9,000-square-foot build at La Marqueta in East Harlem that City Hall estimates will cost $30 million.
- Mamdani says the city would subsidize a core set of staples while a private operator runs each store under standards set by the city.
- Opinion writers fault the $30 million estimate as far above typical private builds, citing Aldi stores that often cost about $1.5 million to $3 million to construct, and warn subsidies could undercut nearby grocers.
- Critics also point to Kansas City’s KC Sun Fresh, which lost money, saw dwindling shoppers and empty shelves, and closed in 2025, as a warning about government-backed supermarkets.