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New York business coalition sues over Mamdani’s city grocery stores plan
The coalition says city-run stores would offer prices about 30% below typical retail and could put smaller immigrant- and minority-owned grocers out of business.
Zohran Mamdani’s plan to open five municipally owned grocery stores has drawn legal action from a New York City business group, according to the Guardian Business. The Multicultural Business Coalition filed two lawsuits in New York County Supreme Court on Monday.
The coalition, which says it represents hundreds of small supermarkets, alleges the program would harm smaller neighborhood grocers, arguing that city stores would be able to offer discounts that smaller retailers cannot match. It contends that this would put those stores out of business and that the plan violates the civil rights of immigrant- and minority-owned businesses.
The lawsuits also challenge the city’s process and authority. One filing argues the city did not conduct a serious analysis of how the stores would affect smaller grocers before launching the initiative, while the second says the city lacks legal authority to create the stores.
Mamdani defended the proposal at a news conference, saying he remains confident in both its legality and its importance, with the plan aiming to address rising food costs. The city intends to open one store in each borough by 2029, offering some produce, meat and seafood, pantry staples, dairy and other refrigerated goods at prices 30% below typical retail, with a projection to cut New Yorkers’ average grocery bill by 15%.