Zohran Mamdani’s plan for government-run grocery stores isn’t just flawed — it’s built on a fundamental misreading of a graphic. And yes, this is the guy currently favored to become the next mayor of America’s largest city.
The self-proclaimed communist and Democratic nominee for New York City mayor has made public grocery stores a centerpiece of his campaign, promising cheaper food and “equity” in food access. His logic? Redirect city subsidies currently going to “corporate supermarkets” and use that money — he claims $140 million — to build and operate five government-run grocery stores.
There’s only one problem: that money doesn’t exist.
This is a bit embarrassing.
Mamdani has a plan for paying for his city-owned grocery stores. He’s planning to tap into a $140 million pile of subsidies for “corporate grocery stores.”
But that pile of money doesn’t exist. He just misread a government website. (Link in reply) pic.twitter.com/sI2TTh3aB1— Tim Carney (@TPCarney) July 1, 2025
Mamdani appears to have misinterpreted a figure from a promotional infographic for the city’s FRESH program (Food Retail Expansion to Support Health). The $140 million he cites isn’t taxpayer money. It’s primarily private investment — the very kind of business development he opposes — incentivized through a relatively small amount of city-issued tax breaks and regulatory relief.
In reality, New York City has only provided about $3.3 million per year in FRESH-related tax incentives — a figure that would take over four decades to total $140 million. And unlike Mamdani’s imaginary grocery empire, those modest incentives have attracted real stores, real jobs, and real access to food in underserved communities.
So what we have here is a mayoral frontrunner basing a major municipal policy on an incorrect reading of a public-facing web graphic — and publicly stating, with confidence, that he has “already detailed how we are going to pay… for the entire agenda.”
To summarize:
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Mamdani misread a marketing graphic.
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He confused private investment with public subsidy.
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He based a $60 million plan on money the city never had.
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He wants to replace private grocery stores with government ones… based on this error.
This isn’t just ideological — it’s operationally incompetent.
And it gets worse. If you remove the tax breaks that make the FRESH program viable, private grocers will stop investing, which could reduce city revenue and worsen food access — the exact opposite of Mamdani’s stated goal.
The Washington Examiner rightly notes that this is a campaign built on faulty math, economic illiteracy, and a deep misunderstanding of how public-private partnerships actually work. But what’s perhaps most alarming is that Mamdani isn’t backing down. He’s not reworking the numbers or adjusting the plan — he’s doubling down on a fantasy that collapses the moment it meets reality.
Unfortunately, the media narrative around Mamdani has focused on his charisma, grassroots image, and so-called progressive vision — while glossing over the blatant economic illogic at the heart of his proposals.
If elected, Mamdani would be running a city with a GDP larger than most nations — a city already facing serious challenges with housing, public safety, infrastructure, and cost of living. His grocery store debacle suggests that he’s not just ideologically extreme — he may not be up to the basic math of municipal governance.
