Zohran Mamdani said New York’s first city-run grocery store in the Bronx will open in 2027, using the launch to reject Ronald Reagan’s warning about government help.
The mayor argued the more frightening reality is families working all day and still being unable to afford food, casting the stores as proof government can lower prices and serve working people.
The Bronx site is the second of five promised stores to be formally announced; a 9,000-square-foot East Harlem flagship is planned for 2029 and will be built from the ground up.
Conservative critics seized on the Reagan remark, with GOP and right-leaning commentators calling the plan socialist or communist and warning city-run stores would undercut private grocers with taxpayer support.
With one store costing $30 million, can a city-run grocer truly solve New York's food affordability crisis?
Can a small five-store city chain actually secure the wholesale prices needed to compete with private supermarkets?