Mamdani Announces First City-Owned Supermarket

New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced the location of the city’s first publicly owned supermarket, marking a step towards delivering on his pledge to bring down the cost of food.

The city will spend $30m (£22.3m) on the store, which is due to open next year at a marketplace in East Harlem, Mamdani announced on Sunday during an address to mark his first 100 days in office.

He wants to open five of the stores – one for each of the city’s boroughs – before the end of his first term in 2029. They will operate without paying rent or taxes and pass those savings onto shoppers. 

During his address, Mamdani rebutted the neoliberal arguments about the effectiveness of publicly owned businesses.

“Some will insist that city-owned businesses do not work, that government cannot keep up with corporations,” he said. “My answer to them is simple: I look forward to the competition. May the most affordable grocery store win.”

​Mamdani has been quick to deliver on several of his major campaign pledges – many of them aimed at bringing down the cost of living – since taking office on 1 January. He announced the introduction of a free childcare scheme, intervened on behalf of tenants living in poor conditions and secured millions of dollars of restitution for workers.

Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a surprise appearance at Mamdani’s address. 

“I know that the mayor has been criticised and some say this is a radical idea,” he told the crowd. “I’ll tell you what is a radical idea: Giving tax breaks to billionaires. Throwing people off health care. That’s radical. What’s radical is starting a terrible war. That’s radical. But providing affordable food to working families? That’s not radical, it’s exactly the right thing to do.”