Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Monday that New York City will open five city-owned grocery stores offering steep discounts on meat, produce, and other essential food items as part of his signature affordability initiative.
The stores will discount a core basket of fresh produce, meat, seafood, and approximately 20 additional categories of pantry staples by 30 percent below typical retail prices. Items in the discounted categories include eggs, milk, cheese, bread, chicken, rice, beans, and yogurt. Prices on these core items will be set once a month and remain fixed throughout the entire month, eliminating weekly fluctuations and checkout surprises.
City Hall projects the discounted basket will save the average shopper about $90 per month, or roughly $1,000 annually. The discount will be available to all customers regardless of income. The remaining products will sell at market-rate prices.
Mamdani said the timing of the initiative responds directly to surging food costs. Since 2019, grocery prices nationwide have risen by approximately 30 percent, while wages have not kept pace. “No New Yorker should have to worry about being able to afford to feed their family,” the mayor said.
The administration plans to open one store in each borough by the end of Mamdani’s first term. The first location will be The Peninsula in Hunts Point, the Bronx, the site of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, expected to open by the end of 2027. A second store is planned for La Marqueta in East Harlem, expected to open by 2029. Both stores will be constructed at significant cost—the Manhattan location alone carries a $30 million price tag—as the administration issued a 44-page request for proposals seeking private operators to manage the daily operations of all five locations.
The model breaks the traditional grocery store ownership structure. The city will own or lease the properties, cover all construction and renovation costs, pay rent and property taxes, and handle the initial buildout. Private grocery operators selected through competitive bidding will manage day-to-day operations. Responses to the request for proposals are due October 16, 2026, with winning operators expected to be selected by spring 2027.
The city has allocated $70 million in capital funds for the initiative, which Mamdani framed as a modern continuation of efforts by former Mayor Fiorello La Guardia to provide affordable food through public markets.
The plan has drawn significant criticism from small business owners and grocery industry leaders who argue that publicly subsidized stores operating without traditional overhead will create unfair competition. The National Supermarket Association called the plan a “slap in the face” to independent grocery owners who must absorb full rent, taxes, and financing costs. Frank Garcia of the Multicultural Business Coalition has said the city’s discounts threaten to close small businesses and signaled potential legal action to block the initiative.
Mamdani has sought to address these concerns by specifying what the city stores will not sell. The stores will not offer hot food or prepared meals, will not carry cigarettes, alcohol, or lottery tickets, and will have no butcher counters. City officials argue these restrictions reduce direct competition with bodegas and neighborhood grocery stores that rely on such revenue streams. “We know that a lot of what drives revenue for these bodegas, grocery stores, those are things that make it possible for them to continue to operate,” Mamdani said. “Those are not things we have any interest in competing for.”
The initiative targets areas where food affordability is a significant challenge. City surveys found that nearly 80 percent of New Yorkers are concerned about rising food prices, and more than 40 percent of families struggle to afford food. The first store in Hunts Point will serve a neighborhood where 77 percent of households struggle to afford basic necessities.
Operators will be contractually required to maintain consistent pricing on the discounted core basket throughout the month and will be evaluated on job quality, transparency, and overall performance. The administration says workers at the stores will receive family-sustaining wages and benefits.
The project represents one of the first-of-its-kind municipal grocery models in major American cities, though similar initiatives have faced challenges elsewhere. Kansas City’s city-owned grocery store, which had received $18 million in public support, recently closed after years of operating challenges. Mamdani acknowledged that the undertaking will be complex but expressed confidence in the initiative. “I look forward to the competition,” he said in response to critics.