NYC bodega owners worry Zohran Mamdani will put them out of business with city-run grocery store plan

If you think government stores are a good idea, you probably wear a keffiyeh and think Israel first attacked Gaza. President Reagan once said of these people that they aren't ignorant; they just "know so much that isn't so". TD

Rich Terrell

 NYC bodega owners worry Zohran Mamdani will put them out of business with city-run grocery store plan  

. . . “ 'It’s going to be a huge problem. You can’t force us to pay taxes and then be our adversary,” Rafael Garcia, owner of La Economica Meat Choice store on University Avenue in The Bronx, told The Post.

"In some bodegas, about two-thirds of the business is from customers with government-financed food stamps and Garcia said there was no doubt those shoppers would flock to the lower-cost, city-run grocery stores.

"Francisco Marte, the president of the Bodega and Business Association, said at Monday’s press conference: “Socialism hasn’t been successful anywhere in the world. Even China has turned to capitalism. Come on, this is stupid.” Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis, who also spoke at the event at Second Avenue and East 40th Street said, “City-owned supermarkets don’t work. Cities do not know how to run a business.”

"Progressive Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson had considered launching a municipal grocery store in the Windy City after a study concluded it was “not only feasible but necessary.”

"But Johnson said he put the plan on hold after companies reached out and asked to join the venture, suggesting a public-private partnership to improve access in so-called food desserts or a public market instead.

"Government-owned grocery stores have been tried in smaller towns in rural America that lost their last grocers — with mixed results at best.

"A town-owned grocery store in 1,400-resident Baldwin, Fla. opened in 2019. The store operated at a loss and closed in March.

"A city-owned store set up in Erie, Kan., didn’t attract enough customers and sales to break even and was forced to change its approach. To lower costs, it leased out the building to a private operator to be the grocer, while the city retained ownership, Governing Magazine reported.

"Not every municipal grocery has gone belly up.

"Another Kansas town, 600-person St. Paul, bought its own store in 2013 after the last supermarket closed and nearest grocer was 17 miles away.

"The government-owned grocer is still operating there, a success story cited by Mamdani." . .