New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated his first 100 days in office at a former factory in Queens, where he touted his administration’s “historic achievements” like securing $1.2 billion for universal childcare and fixing 100,000 potholes, and announced the location of his first socialist pet project: a new city-owned grocery store.
“I know there are many who use ‘socialist’ as a dirty word, something to be ashamed of,” Mamdani told his supporters. “They can try all they want, but we will not be ashamed of using government to fight for the many, not simply the few.”
Mamdani might believe that city-run grocery stores will benefit the many, but history tells a very different story.
“When corporations control every part of the food supply chain, prices go up, wages stay flat, and workers and customers both lose,” Mamdani said. “That is why we are advancing a public option -- one rooted in the belief that our city can and must intervene where the market has failed.”
Has the market failed in New York City? Not exactly.
It is true that the price of groceries is well above the national average in the Big Apple. However, it is also true that New York City has one of the most restrictive zoning environments for grocery stores in the nation.
“The most egregious planning barrier is that grocery stores over 10,000 square feet are not generally allowed as-of-right in so-called ‘M’ districts, which are the easiest places to find sites large enough to accommodate the large stores that national grocers are used to,” notes Stephen Smith in an article titled “The Real Reasons New Yorkers’ Groceries Cost So Much.”
Consequently, in New York City, to “open a full-sized grocery store in these areas, a developer must seek a ‘special permit,’ which requires the full City Council to get together and vote for an exception to the rules. This is a long, uncertain process, and has in the past even been an invitation to corruption.”
The New York City Council, which seems very enthusiastic about Mamdani’s Soviet-style grocery stores, has used the “special permit” process as a means of stopping national grocers from setting up shop in the city limits on numerous occasions.
By denying permits to major grocery chains, New York City is suffering from a lack of competition, which is exacerbated by the fact that national grocers like Walmart can use economies of scale to keep prices minimal.
Meanwhile, New York City’s bodegas and mom-and-pop grocery stores have struggled to keep pace with ever-rising rents and property taxes. With fewer people working in downtown office buildings since the pandemic, many small-time corner grocery stores have gone out of business, too.
Mamdani’s solution, opening five city-run grocery stores over the next few years, might be popular with NYC residents, but it will make the problem worse, not better.
“We cannot accept a status quo where even the most basic necessity -- putting food on the table -- feels out of reach. This is about ensuring that every New Yorker, regardless of income or ZIP code, has access to fresh, healthy food at a price they can afford,” said Mamdani.
Unsurprisingly, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) chimed in and praised Mamdani’s plan. “Today’s announcement by the mayor of new city-run grocery stores is just another example of government working for the people,” said the socialist senator.
But Bernie should know better.
Believe it or not, Bernie Sanders honeymooned in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1988. At the time, the Soviet Union was an economic basket case. Its command-and-control economy was on the brink of total collapse after decades of central planning had gone awry.
In the late 1980s, during Bernie's 10-day vacation, bread lines were the norm for the millions stuck behind the Iron Curtain.
New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, one of six Republicans in the 51-seat New York City Council, also knows about breadlines.
“I didn’t escape a childhood of Soviet breadlines just to sit quietly while a Mayoral frontrunner tries to make socialism seem like a great idea for NYC,” Vernikov posted to X late last year.
Government-run grocery stores are not novel, and they have never worked in practice. However, like nearly all stupid socialist ideas, it may take a bitter pill of reality, i.e., breadlines, for New York City residents to learn this hard lesson.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.
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