Mamdani defends the controversial proposal for the grocery store belonging to the city for New York

Bronx, ny – The candidate for the New York Democrat Town Hall, Zohran Mamdani, said that it would be possible for a “partnership” between the city and the grocery store and the owners of Bodega, despite his plan to open five grocery stores managed by the city if the mayor elected in November.

“What do you say to the owners of grocery store who fear that this creates a ricochet effect, if there are more and more grocery stores belonging to the city in the city?” Fox News Digital asked Mamdani at an anti-Trump event in the Bronx on Thursday afternoon.

“I am interested in working with each New Yorker, and I actually talked about with a certain number of grocery owners and I clearly told them that I both recognize and I appreciate the work they have done. The fact is that they are an essential element of our communities,” replied Mamdani.

Mamdani told Fox News Digital that a majority of grocery stores in New York are families, because he expressed his gratitude to these families for having invested in New York City, especially in the 1970s, when he said that large retailers left, but these owners of small businesses remained because they believed in this city. “

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Zohran Mamdani defended his plan for five grocery stores managed by the city in New York during an anti-Trump event in the Bronx on Thursday. (Deirdre Heavey / Fox News Digital)

“There is so much partnership that we can always offer to these same stores to help them on the arrow rents that they face, insurance issues, a large part of what creates instability in their business model, while ensuring that we use each tool at our disposal to create a more affordable city for New Yorkers,” said Mamdani.

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Like many of its progressive policies, Mamdani’s plan to open the grocery stores managed by the city if the elected mayor of New York has raised eyebrows about its feasibility.

But Mamdani explained Thursday: “It is not in opposition to the owners of grocery stores or to the owners of Bodega. This is something that can really be used to increase competitiveness, because we have seen the public options do so in the past.”

Like President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, Mamdani made the central theme of his campaign affordability. One way Mamdani seeks to lower prices for New Yorkers is to open a grocery store belonging to the city in each of the five districts.

“As mayor, Zohran will create a network of grocery stores belonging to the city focused on low prices, not making profit. Without having to pay rent or land taxes, they will reduce the general costs and reduce savings to buyers”, according to the Mamdani campaign website.

Zohran Mamdani organizes anti-Trump campaign events through the five New York districts all week. (Deirdre Heavey / Fox News Digital)

The Mamdani campaign said that the grocery stores managed by the City “will buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize storage and distribution, and would associate with local neighborhoods on products and supply”.

The hope of a 33 -year -old mayor said it was time to redirect public money to create a real “public option”.

Mamdani told Fox News Digital Thursday that his plan “was part of a vision of a public option for products, an understanding that for far too many New Yorkers, the grocery store is out of reach and the importance of the municipal government of reasonable political experimentation”.

He said New Yorkers deserve the same access to products because they have “fast food restaurants just at the corner of the street”.

Zohran Mamdani broke a selfie with a supporter when he arrived at his anti-Trump event on Staten Island on Wednesday. (Deirdre Heavey / Fox News Digital)

Economists and managers of Wall Street sounded the alarm In terms of Mamdani in the interviews with Fox News Digital shortly after his main democrat victory.

John Catsimatidis, owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain, widely criticized the idea of the grocery store managed by Mamdani, arguing that this would “injure New York”.

“If the city of New York becomes a socialist, I will certainly close, sell, or move or franchise the locations of Gristedes,” Catsimatidis told Fox Business in an interview in June.

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And the representative Michael Rulli, R -Ohio – whose family has and operates Rulli Brothers, a small chain of two grocery stores in the Youngstown region, Ohio, – echoes the concern of Catsimatidis in an interview with Fox News Digital last month.

“It will be a bullet in the heart of the American grocery industry, if that has made its way,” said Rulli.

Amanda Macias of Fox News Digital and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.