NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani outlines plan for city-owned grocery stores

NEW YORK -- As Americans across the nation continue to pay much higher prices for groceries, there is a controversial plan in the works for New York City.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is asking private companies to come forward and run five supermarkets that will be owned by the city.

In those supermarkets, some prices will be lower, a lot lower.

Mamdani is promising this will take 30% off a core basket of food, like produce, pasta, meat, bread, rice and beans. Other non-essential items will be sold at market price.

Critics say the mayor's plan, which will cost $70 million, is a wasteful use of taxpayer money that could then result in losses for the city.



This idea has been tried before in other parts of the country with mixed results.