The Aisle of Madness: Why Zohran Mamdani’s State-Run Grocery Stores Will Butcher New York’s Soul

 

If Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor and opens his utopian grocery chain, don’t expect savings. Expect scandals. Expect waste. Expect government-controlled bread lines with unionized shelf-stockers and politically approved peanut butter. Expect to stand in line, waiting for an overpriced banana while someone in a suit tells you it's “equity.

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, and Zohran Mamdani wants the government to own them all. That’s not a joke. That’s the plan. Zohran Mamdani—the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor—isn’t just selling socialist dreams. He’s packaging them in taxpayer-funded grocery bags. His wild idea? Government-run grocery stores that pay no rent, no taxes, make no profit, and undercut every honest supermarket in town. If this sounds like he’s out of his mind, that’s because he probably is. Either Mamdani is crazy or he’s hallucinating—there’s no third aisle in this store of madness.

Let’s put his proposal on the chopping block. He wants to build city-owned grocery stores—one in each borough—where food is sold “at cost” to help poor New Yorkers. But groceries aren’t expensive because stores are greedy. They’re expensive because everything in New York costs a fortune: rent, wages, utilities, transportation. In fact, the grocery business already operates on razor-thin margins—1 to 2 percent after taxes. So even if every private grocer in NYC went nonprofit tomorrow, they still couldn’t match Mamdani’s fantasyland prices.

That’s because his prices would be artificially cheap, paid for by taxpayers. His stores wouldn’t pay rent or property taxes. He’d plop them down on city-owned land like a game of Monopoly with no rules. Every banana, every loaf of bread, every frozen pizza would be quietly subsidized. Mamdani says this will make groceries affordable. What he’s not saying is: you’ll be paying for your neighbor’s groceries whether you shop there or not. It’s like robbing Peter to feed Paul, then sending the receipt to both.

And here’s the worst part: if these government stores succeed, they’ll drive private supermarkets out of business. You can’t compete with “free”—especially when it’s funded with your own taxes. Trader Joe’s, Key Food, Fairway, and thousands of beloved mom-and-pop bodegas would get eaten alive. And with them would go variety, creativity, and choice. Say goodbye to your bodega’s hot sandwiches. Say farewell to that weird but amazing seaweed snack you found on aisle six. The city will give you canned peas and like it.

Small store owners—especially bodegas—are terrified. And they should be. Bodega associations are calling this a death sentence. They know exactly what happens when government bulldozes its way into local business. These aren’t corporations with safety nets. These are families who’ve run corner stores for decades, paying taxes and employing neighbors. Mamdani wants to throw them under the government bus. And then charge them for the ride.

But let’s pretend, just for fun, that these city-run stores actually work. Let’s say they manage to sell groceries at a discount, keep their shelves full, and avoid turning into overpriced snack depots with spoiled fruit. Even then, the savings would be tiny. Experts agree: even with no rent and no profit, these stores would barely lower prices—maybe a few cents on the dollar. And those cents? Paid for by the public purse.

Now let’s face reality. The city can’t even run public bathrooms. New York just spent $1 million per no-frills public toilet. Yes, that’s one toilet. Mamdani thinks the same city that can’t install a working sink is going to master food distribution, logistics, perishables, and customer service? That’s not a plan. That’s a comedy sketch.

What Mamdani’s cooking up isn’t affordability—it’s forced dependence. His model punishes success, rewards inefficiency, and chains grocery access to political cycles. If the city budget tanks, your neighborhood store vanishes. If the wrong administration comes in, the shelves go bare. When you make the government your grocer, you make politics your pantry.

And it’s not just the mom-and-pop stores warning about this disaster. Billionaire grocer John Catsimatidis said he’d consider shutting down or moving out of New York entirely. Other investors are threatening to pack up their portfolios and flee. Financial leaders are calling Mamdani’s plan a “communist delusion.” And they’re not wrong. There’s no capitalist country on Earth where state-run supermarkets outcompete private grocers. But plenty of failed socialist regimes tried. Russia, Venezuela, Cuba—they all learned the hard way. When the state opens the store, it also locks the shelves.

The most insulting part of Mamdani’s fantasy is that he’s trying to pay for it with money that doesn’t exist. He says he’ll fund his grocery dreams by “redirecting subsidies” that go to private grocers. But the real number? About $30 million in tax breaks—most of which support hiring and training in low-income neighborhoods. He’s selling magic beans and calling it a balanced budget.

Even liberals are starting to sweat. City officials know this plan is unworkable without state approvals and zoning overhauls. Mayor Eric Adams has slammed it as a “snake oil scam.” Moderates within Mamdani’s own party are bracing for economic collapse. Some are even trying to convince national donors to fund an independent campaign to stop him.

And let’s not forget Mamdani’s favorite scare tactic: “food deserts.” He says New York has too many areas where people can’t buy fresh produce. But data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says New York has fewer food deserts than any other state. The real issue is inflation—something government grocery stores won’t fix. If anything, Mamdani’s plan will raise costs by wasting tax dollars, gutting competition, and making people dependent on politically controlled food.

Let’s not pretend this is about helping the poor. Mamdani’s stores won’t check your income at the door. Wealthy tech bros in Brooklyn will shop side-by-side with seniors on fixed incomes—both enjoying taxpayer-funded discounts. It’s a gift to the rich disguised as a program for the poor. It’s affordability theater.

What we’re looking at here is a five-borough experiment in madness. A dream so far-fetched, it makes “unicorn meat” sound plausible. A plan so detached from economic reality, it could only be born in the fever swamp of radical ideology.

If Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor and opens his utopian grocery chain, don’t expect savings. Expect scandals. Expect waste. Expect government-controlled bread lines with unionized shelf-stockers and politically approved peanut butter. Expect to stand in line, waiting for an overpriced banana while someone in a suit tells you it's “equity.”

At this rate, the only thing Mamdani should be allowed to stock is the fiction section. And even that’s probably too close to reality for comfort.