Mamdani’s $70M City-Run Grocery Plan Ripped, Experts Say Taxpayers Will Pay Twice

Private operators would handle staffing, merchandise and sourcing, while the city establishes pricing requirements and operating standards.

Critics say that arrangement creates an enormous taxpayer-funded advantage over independent grocers that must pay rent, taxes and other operating expenses while surviving on notoriously narrow profit margins.

E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, argued that Mamdani’s promised discounts simply cannot be absorbed through normal supermarket profits.

“A 30% discount at stores with a 2% profit margin is simply a loss for taxpayers who will have to make up the difference. These artificially low prices will also harm small businesses which will lose sales to taxpayer-subsidized grocery stores,” Antoni said.