Source: Fox News
Private operators are being warned by New York City immigrant business owners that they could face legal action if they participate in Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for government-owned grocery stores. Frank Garcia, chairman of the Multicultural Business Coalition, said the group is prepared to sue any operator that submits a proposal for the city’s request for proposals. The coalition has already filed two lawsuits against the city, arguing that the taxpayer-backed stores would unfairly compete with minority- and immigrant-owned businesses. The city is seeking up to five companies to operate the stores, which would offer a 30% discount on a core basket of groceries.
Source: Fox News
The coalition has threatened to extend its legal fight to private companies that sign on to operate the stores. The city’s New York City Economic Development Corporation opened the operator RFP in July and is seeking proposals by Oct. 16. Mamdani has said the five stores, one in each borough, are expected to open by 2029. Existing grocers argue they would be forced to compete against stores insulated from costs they have to shoulder themselves, particularly rent. Mamdani has pushed back on claims that the municipal stores would put neighborhood bodegas out of business, pointing out that the city-backed locations would not sell products such as cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets or hot foods.
Source: Fox News
Mamdani has also pointed to public-market models such as Essex Market as evidence that subsidized markets and private businesses can coexist. He said he is confident in the legality of the plan and its importance. The mayor’s office declined to comment on Garcia’s claim that his coalition sought a meeting with Mamdani and did not respond to his threat of litigation against participating operators. Garcia said his coalition sought a meeting with Mamdani before going to court but was rebuffed, alleging the mayor instead met with a group of Dominican business owners while leaving out other immigrant and minority-owned businesses that could be affected by the plan.
Source: Fox News
Garcia repeatedly invoked the immigrant history of New York’s bodegas, describing businesses that have passed through generations of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican and other immigrant entrepreneurs. His coalition, he said, represents a broader cross-section of those businesses, including Latino, Korean and Arab store owners. City officials have also wrestled with how to support existing grocers that fear they could lose business to the taxpayer-backed stores. Waverly Neer, a senior vice president at the New York City Economic Development Corporation who leads the NYC Groceries initiative, recently said the agency was considering grants and other incentives that could accompany the municipal stores and support independent businesses in surrounding neighborhoods.
Source: Fox News
NYCEDC later said grants were not currently under consideration but that the agency was exploring other forms of assistance, including potential tax abatements, incentives and zoning benefits through existing city programs. Garcia argues the city should put more of its resources behind businesses that already exist. He said some immigrant-owned bodegas in his coalition have struggled to access affordable capital and turned instead to private lenders charging steep rates. “A lot of these bodegas are paying 35% loans right now to predator lenders,” Garcia said. His criticism was not reserved for Mamdani or Democrats.
