New York City grocers are taking Mayor Zohran Mamdani to court over his proposal to open city-backed grocery stores across all five boroughs, warning that the taxpayer-funded competition could shutter small, family-run businesses that have served local neighborhoods for decades.
Josefina Aguirre, a first-generation American who has worked behind the counter of her family's Spanish Harlem meat market for 30 years, is among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Her parents opened Little Mexico in 1997, and she now runs it with her two sisters. The city plans to build one of its proposed stores at La Marqueta, a public market just two blocks away, with an estimated construction cost of roughly $30 million.
Mamdani has committed $70 million to open five municipal grocery stores, one in each borough, pitching the model as a way to cut grocery bills for New Yorkers struggling with food costs. He says the stores will offer prices about 30% lower than comparable retailers. The stores would operate on city-owned property without paying rent or property taxes, advantages Mamdani argues will allow them to undercut private competitors.
Independent grocers argue those same advantages create an uneven playing field. Aguirre said the prospect of a competitor selling at a 30% discount is existential for her business.
"When we heard Mamdani was opening a grocery store where people are gonna save 30%, it scares us because we don't have the money to compete," Aguirre said. "I mean, we are New Yorkers, we're not scared of competition, we never have been, but when you have a grocery store coming in like this, it could take us out of business."
Aguirre said her shop has survived the COVID-19 pandemic, rising rents, and competition from big-box retailers like a nearby Costco. But after nearly three decades in business, she fears the city-run grocery plan could be the setback her family cannot survive.
"If I'm selling a whole chicken for $13, and he's giving it for $7, they're gonna buy the $7 chicken," Aguirre said. "Who doesn't want a 30% discount?"
The stakes extend beyond losing customers, she said. "I pay my mortgage from here. I pay for my kid's tuition. This is what I've been doing for over 30 years. Do I need to start over in a new career?"
The lawsuit is the latest flashpoint in Mamdani's broader agenda, which includes proposals for free buses and other government-run services. His grocery push is widely seen as an early test of his socialist vision for New York, bringing government-run stores into direct competition with private businesses in a city long associated with capitalism.
For generations, bodegas and small grocery stores have been woven into the fabric of New York City neighborhoods, often serving customers who live just blocks away. Aguirre said the fight is personal.
"This is what my parents left us," she said. "It'll be sad to see us leave."
Walking away from the business her family has spent nearly three decades building is the last outcome she wants. "So what will happen next? The next thing would be closing our business, and we don't want to close, we've been here for years," she said.
Mamdani's office did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.