The city-run grocery stores the Mamdani administration is spending $70 million to set up will provide a 30% discount on essential foods like produce, eggs and milk, the mayor said Monday.
“No exceptions, no gimmicks,” Mayor Mamdani said at an East New York press conference. “Savings will last for the entire month. That means no weekly fluctuations or sticker shock. “
The discount will cover a “core basket” of fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood, along with a list of 20 other items including cheese, milk and bread, the mayor said.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani pledged to open five city-run grocery stores, with one in each borough, as part of his focus on affordability across New York. The first store is expected to open toward the end of 2027 in the Bronx, and the mayor has plans to have all five up and running by the end of his four-year term.
Not everyone is happy about the plan, though. Some grocery store owners have decried it, arguing the city-run stores will drive down their business.
Mamdani said he reached the 30% in part because food prices have shot up nationwide by 30% since 2019. To offset the discounted prices, the city is offering the locations as “grocery-ready,” as well as covering rent and property taxes. The city will also work to establish a “single public brand,” said Jeanny Pak, the interim president of the Economic Development Corporation.
The city has allocated in its budget $70 million in capital funding to get the stores built up and ready for shoppers.
“Thirty percent off adds up to real money for New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. “For many, that 30% discount is the difference between an evening spent around the dinner table with family or working another double shift to make ends meet.”
Julie Su, his deputy mayor for economic justice, nodded to national and international factors that have kept grocery prices high, including tariffs and the war in Iran raising the price of fuel.
“While we don’t control all the reasons that grocers are unaffordable, we are going to be ambitious and imaginative about what we can do,” she said at the announcement, against a backdrop of produce.
The mayor last week announced Anthony Shorris, a former deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio and most recently a partner at McKinsey, will soon take on the role of president and CEO of EDC, and Lina Khan, the former chairperson of the Federal Trade Commission, will serve as the board chairperson of the nonprofit.
Mamdani has pushed for EDC to emphasize economic justice and helping working-class New Yorkers instead of mostly focusing on the business class and corporations.
The mayor had previously said the city would be offering essential goods at discounted prices; Monday’s announcement was to specify how much, exactly, New Yorkers could save.
Along with that news, the mayor also announced the city’s issued a Request for Proposals for private operators to put their hat in the ring to run one or more of the stores.
