NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s vision to turn New York City into a socialist utopia is finally taking shape.
In a rousing video posted to social media, Mamdani announced the Big Apple’s first city-owned grocery store that will cost a jaw-dropping $30 million to build from the ground up at East Harlem’s longstanding La Marqueta, officials confirmed.
The new grocery at the longstanding city-owned La Marqueta marketplace will run with a yet-to-be-picked operator reaping the benefits of a rent- and tax-free deal, City Hall officials told The New York Post.
In other words, the store will be required to pay no taxes or rent, yet the neighboring competitors will be stuck with the sky-high costs.
Wreaks of communism, does it not?
Muslim Democrat NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is planning to open the first of his "Free" city-owned grocery stores in East Harlem next year.
The communist takeover of NYC is in full swing pic.twitter.com/yeCH6lW5oY
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 13, 2026
Mamdani has proposed spending $70 million in taxpayer money for constructing his envisioned five city-owned grocery stores, during his mayoral campaign.
Another grocery will be opened by the end of this year, with all five ready for shoppers by the end of Mamdani’s first term in 2029, the officials said.
“Now, here’s how it works. The city will subsidize a core set of staples. A private operator will run the store, but the answer to the standards that the city will set, these standards include requirements that at our stores bread will be cheaper, eggs will be cheaper, grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation, and workers will be treated with dignity,” Mamdani said during an event marking his first 100 days in office.
However, his proposal, even during his campaign, drew dire warnings of “Soviet”-style markets forcing private businesses to close.
Longtime NYC billionaire owner John Catsimatidis even threatened to close or sell his Gristedes chain if Mamdani was elected.
“If the city of New York is going socialist, I will definitely close, or sell, or move or franchise the Gristedes locations,” he warned.
Other critics argued that municipal markets in other places – notably a barren city-owned grocery in Kansas City, Missouri – had struggled and closed.
An undaunted Mamdani pointed to toward several successful government-owned groceries, such as one in St. Paul, Kansas, a community of roughly 600 people.
Grocers near La Marqueta complained Mamdani’s market would hurt their businesses.
“It’s gonna affect us real hard,” said Victor Vazquez, 33, manager at City Fresh Market. “It’s too near!
“Our prices might have to go up.”
A half-gallon of whole milk goes for $2.99 at City Fresh Market, as does a dozen eggs.
Augustine Espinal, 58, who owns the Pamela’s Grocery Store bodega, said he has already “lost business” with La Marqueta open as it is.
“The city has a much stronger business than I do. It’ll be a loss in income,” Espinal said.