Mamdani Just Flip-Flopped on Grocery Store IDs in 24 Hours — But New Yorkers Should Hate the NEW Policy Even More

City Hall confirmed it in plain English to the New York Post: “NYC Grocery stores will be open to everyone. There will be no system to verify identity, residency, or income, and no one will be asked to show ID to shop.”

Got that? The stores will be open to everyone. On the taxpayer dime of New York City residents.

Let’s trace how this happened. Jeanny Pak, the interim president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation — Mamdani’s own economic apparatus — explicitly floated a “library-card-esque” system to ensure the discount program was “focused on everyday New Yorkers.” Pretty clear intent: New York City taxpayers fund the stores, New York City residents benefit. The irony noted by conservatives — that Democrats who oppose voter ID were considering requiring shopping ID — was legitimate and pointed.

Mamdani’s response was to abandon any residency requirement whatsoever, declare the criticism a “MAGA uproar” built on fiction, and announce that his program will now subsidize groceries for literally anybody who walks through the door.

This is weapons-grade economic illiteracy dressed up as compassion.