Mamdani’s Grocery Store Plan Lands NYC in Major Court Battle

New York City on Monday was named in a lawsuit over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to open multiple taxpayer-funded grocery stores in the city next year, which could put mom-and-pop grocery stores out of business.

A coalition representing immigrant-run grocery stores brought the suit.

“These grocery stores and bodegas are right to be concerned about going out of business,” The Heritage Foundation Chief Economist E.J. Antoni told the Daily Signal.

Antoni added that local stores “operate in an unfavorable tax and regulatory environment with thin margins,” which are compounded by the city’s crime, “which imposes additional costs.”

“It seems that Mamdani’s grocery stores will be in violation of the law from the standpoint of selling items at a loss to drive out competitors,” the chief economist concluded.

As stated in the lawsuit, the Multicultural Business Coalition argued that the mayor’s plan for city-run grocery stores violates New York civil rights laws and the state constitution’s equal protection clause.

The lawsuit, filed in the state Supreme Court on Monday morning, could have been avoided if the city had been open to constructive conversations with the coalition to resolve the issue, as the coalition outlined in a letter read at City Hall last week.

“Although we have not heard from you since May 2026, we are open to resolving this matter amicably with more sensible solutions to feed working-class people with nutritious essential food items at affordable prices,” Kenneth Roldan, the coalition’s president, wrote in the letter reported by the New York Post last week.

Mark Jaffe, the group’s legal counsel and president of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, told the Post that they have been asking the mayor to “avoid litigation to sit down with us,” but his lack of response to the matter has prompted them to “try to stop this if they won’t listen to us.”

However, Mamdani announced the initiative, which would sell products 30% below the sale price, as an attempt to lower the cost of living for New Yorkers. He defended the plan by stating that there will not be enough city-run grocery stores to meet the city’s grocery demand and therefore will not impact the stores’ ability to make a profit.

“We are talking about a reflection of a cost-of-living crisis that has seen grocery prices increase by about 30% over the last few years, and we’re also talking about delivering five city-run grocery stores in a city of 8.5 million people that has more than a thousand grocery stores,” Mamdani said.

Additionally, in an April press release, the city said it will “own the land and cover overhead costs like rent and construction” and allow a “private operator” to manage daily operations.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., however, told the Daily Signal that he disagrees with Mamdani’s claim that these businesses will not affect mom-and-pop grocery and convenience stores in New York City.

“It will absolutely put mom-and-pop businesses out of business in the vicinity of where he opens them,” Fine stated. “There will be no grocery stores within a quarter mile or half a mile of these government stores.”

The congressman also claimed that the mayor hasn’t issued a response to the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce and Multicultural Business Coalition because Mamdani is “an aggressive communist” who has no interest in holding diplomatic conversations.

As it stands, the mayor has publicly stated that there will only be five such stores throughout the city. However, government officials like Fine do not believe that Mamdani will stop at that.

“I don’t think Zohran Mamdani will stop until he turns New York into a third-world country,” Fine concluded.

The mayor’s office, the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, and the Multicultural Business Coalition did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.