{"id":981268,"date":"2026-08-05T01:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/981268\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T01:24:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:24:23","slug":"mamdanis-ridiculous-nyc-owned-grocery-store-plan-has-a-shockingly-bad-business-model-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/981268\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani’s ‘ridiculous’ NYC-owned grocery store plan has a shockingly bad business model: critics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan for five city-owned grocery stores<\/a> has a shockingly bad business model, industry insiders argued, citing the administration\u2019s newly released \u201crequest for proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The socialist mayor has long touted his plan to bring New Yorkers cheaper goods by opening a \u201cpublicly-funded, privately-operated\u201d supermarket in each borough.<\/p>\n

The socialist mayor has long touted his plan to bring New Yorkers cheaper goods by opening \u201cpublicly-funded, privately-operated\u201d groceries throughout the five boroughs. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

But the New York City Economic Development Corporation\u2019s 44-page RFP released last week \u2014 seeking contracting bids from vendors to run the shops \u2014 reveal the \u201cridiculous idea\u201d will only lead to \u201ccrappy\u201d stores, Chicago restaurateur Nick Kokonas claimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an efficient system\u2026 just change the outcomes,\u201d Kokonas said in an X thread<\/a> Monday blasting the city\u2019s plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But a recent analysis of the New York City Economic Development Corporation\u2019s plans for the grocery stores reveals that the \u201cridiculous idea\u201d will only lead to \u201ccrappy\u201d stores, restaurateur Nick Kokonas claimed. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

While the RFP states that bidders who \u201cseek to run all five (5) sites\u201d are preferred, so far only two of the locations \u2013 one in Manhattan and the other in The Bronx \u2013 have actually been identified by City Hall, Kokonas noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cBidders are supposed to price unknown stores in unknown neighborhoods by assuming they\u2019re \u2018about 15,000 sq ft.\u2019 Absurd,\u201d Kokonas said, in the thread, which quickly went viral.<\/p>\n

The RFP also notes the city paying for \u201cthe design and fit out of sites\u201d<\/a> \u2013 while the responsibility for the upkeep of the stores will fall on the laps of the operators.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the RFP says that preference is given to bidders who \u201cseek to run all five (5) sites,\u201d only two of the five locations \u2013 one in Manhattan and another in the Bronx \u2013 have actually been identified.\u00a0 Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

Other bizarre choices highlighted in the plan by Kokonas include the grocery\u2019s stated goal to have a \u201climited\u201d variety of foods \u2013 while also carrying kosher, halal, vegan, dairy-free and diabetic options.\u00a0 Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cSo NYC makes the capital decisions while someone else pays for the consequences,\u201d said the businessman.<\/p>\n

Other bizarre choices highlighted in the plan by Kokonas included the stated goal for the supermarkets to offer a \u201climited\u201d variety of foods \u2013 while also carrying kosher, halal, vegan, dairy-free and diabetic options.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also noted that the subsidized \u201cCore Basket\u201d of goods<\/a> \u2014 items to be offered at 30% below market price, according to City Hall \u2014 could include \u201cchicken salad, egg salad, potato salad, fruit salad and other deli-prepared foods.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the stores won\u2019t have food preparation on site or a deli counter, according to the RFP, so \u201cyou\u2019re going to ship them in every day prepared. Gotcha\u2026,\u201d Kokonas wrote.<\/p>\n

Also eyebrow-raising, City Hall recently confirmed ID will not be required to shop<\/a> \u2014 meaning anyone, regardless of income or residency, can purchase the taxpayer subsidized groceries.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo means test. Anyone can shop there. So taxpayers will subsidize groceries for affluent shoppers who happen to live nearby, while needy families elsewhere get zero,\u201d Kokonas said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNo means test. Anyone can shop there. So taxpayers will subsidize groceries for affluent shoppers who happen to live nearby, while needy families elsewhere get zero,\u201d Kokonas said.\u00a0 Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

Other industry insiders were also befuddled by the RFP.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of the metrics fit in my experience,\u201d Andy Arons, former owner of Gourmet Garage, told The Post on Tuesday. \u201cThey would be so much better by increasing SNAP benefits for those who need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fernando Matteo, of the United Bodegas of America group, called the grocery plan \u201ca f\u2014ing gimmick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes no sense,\u201d he fumed, adding that if Mamdani \u201cwants to make a difference\u201d on affordability, he should work with existing grocery stores.<\/p>\n

The mayor\u2019s office and the EDC did not respond to requests for comment. Kokonas couldn\u2019t immediately be reached.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s plan for five city-owned grocery stores has a shockingly bad business model, industry insiders argued,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":981269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,37181,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969,5301],"class_list":["post-981268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-discounts","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117040294584088400","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=981268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/981269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=981268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=981268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=981268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}