$70M CITY-RUN GROCERY PLAN HIT WITH LAWSUIT FROM NYC BODEGAS

🚨 $70 million. Five city-run supermarkets. One lawsuit filed Monday morning to stop them.

Business Insider reports that the Multicultural Business Coalition, a group of New York City businesses including small grocers and bodegas, has sued Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration over its plan to open five city-run grocery stores, one in each borough, by 2029. The first Bronx store is set to open in 2027.

The complaint alleges "unfair competition." Plaintiffs say they cannot match the city stores' planned 30% discount on core goods, particularly because those stores would have rent subsidized by the Economic Development Corporation.

The suit asks for a halt to all rollout activity until the city has completed the land use review, study and analysis the plaintiffs say is required. It also calls the site selection "arbitrary," pointing to East Harlem's La Marqueta, which the filing says sits among a considerable number of successful Hispanic and Korean-owned supermarkets.

EDC leaders told Business Insider the city weighs existing city-owned property, transit access, local income levels and population density, but did not share specific criteria. They said subsidies for some local grocers are under consideration. None have been announced.

Mamdani said on August 24 he remains "fully confident in both the legality and the importance" of the initiative.

Owners Business Insider spoke to said they back the fight against food insecurity, noting food costs in US cities are up 25% in five years. They just don't want the city as a competitor.

Should the city be allowed to run its own grocery stores?

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