WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Socialist NYC Mayoral Candidate Wants City-Owned Grocery Stores
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is a far left socialist and he wants the Big Apple to have government owned grocery stores.
This idea has been tried before and it failed miserably. Anyone who knows history remembers the images of bare shelves in government owned grocery stores in the former Soviet Union.
Mamdani recently shared a survey on Twitter/X showing that New Yorkers support his idea.
NEW: Two-thirds of NYC voters support creating municipal grocery stores to bring down prices.
"The concept is imminently feasible. In fact, publicly owned grocery stores are quite common and already exist at scale—in the US military."
(@cplusci/@DataProgress) pic.twitter.com/dxnkmnqYfF
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) April 4, 2025
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also pushed this terrible idea.
From City Journal:
One of his more curious proposals, about which he is buoyant, is to open city-owned and city-managed grocery stores. His campaign literature explains that these municipal stores will be “focused on keeping prices low, not making a profit. Without having to pay rent or property taxes, they will reduce overhead and pass on savings to shoppers. They will buy and sell at wholesale prices, centralize warehousing and distribution, and partner with local neighborhoods on products and sourcing.”
In a recent interview, Mamdani said that he wants to establish “a pilot program of one store in each borough that builds on the feasibility study that was done in Chicago.” Indeed, in 2023, Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson did propose opening such grocery stores, in response to the closing of many supermarkets in poor areas of the city, and he did commission a feasibility study to examine the question. That study has not been made public, however, and Mayor Johnson has backed off his plan, even though the state of Illinois established a “Grocery Initiative” to provide municipalities with up to $2.4 million to open grocery stores. Chicago has not applied for any of this money.
There are so many ways this could go badly.
How will a $30 min wage help keep prices down? Or will folks be expected to work the cash registers for free?
— Betsy’76 (@LadyAmPatriot) April 4, 2025
Imagine the DMV, but a grocery store. In the Soviet Union, people waited in line for hours and found empty shelves, and in Venezuela, government control led to food shortages, leaving many hungry—when the government runs stores, it’s harder to get food, and prices don’t really go…
— Matt Kilmer (@mattkilmer) April 4, 2025
This buffoon wants to put bodegas & grocery stores out of business by creating grocery stores run by the city to undercut them. He promised the taxpayer will pay their rent & they'll be exempt from certain taxes. You'd have to be a psychopath or an idiot to support this https://t.co/nlU2lNQsYv
— Sean Fitzgerald (Actual Justice Warrior) (@IamSean90) April 4, 2025
The American left is convinced that socialism will finally work this time, as long as they’re in charge.
(Image:Source)
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