The five municipal grocery stores set to open in New York City will sell many grocery staples at prices 30% below typical retail costs, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday.

At a news conference, Mamdani said the program aims to make groceries more affordable for New Yorkers as soaring supermarket prices outpace wage growth.

What You Need To Know

The five municipal grocery stores set to open in New York City will sell many grocery staples at prices 30% below typical retail costs, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday

The mayor said the discount will apply to a “core basket” of products like fresh produce, meat and seafood, along with pantry staples, dairy products and refrigerated goods

Prices for those items will be set once a month and remain fixed throughout the month, and will be available to all shoppers regardless of income

“We know that for many New Yorkers, 30% at the grocery store means something very different,” he said. “Since 2019, food prices have soared at grocery stores around the country by roughly 30%.”

The mayor said the discount will apply to a “core basket” of products like fresh produce, meat and seafood, along with pantry staples, dairy products and refrigerated goods.

Prices for those items will be set once a month and remain fixed throughout the month, rather than fluctuating from week to week. The discounts will be available to all shoppers regardless of income.

“There will be no exceptions, no gimmicks,” Mamdani said. “The savings will last for the entire month. That means no weekly fluctuations nor sticker shock at the checkout line.”

City Hall said the discounts are expected to reduce the average grocery bill by about 15%, saving shoppers roughly $90 a month, or around $1,000 a year.

The mayor said the city is seeking private operators to manage the day-to-day operations of the five municipal stores.  

“Our vision of affordable, well-run, city-owned grocery stores can only be accomplished with experienced operators who know how to source products, stock the shelves and help answer shopper questions,” Mamdani said.

He added that workers at the stores would receive “family-sustaining wages and benefits.”

The grocery initiative is a key part of Mamdani’s affordability agenda. His administration has allocated $70 million in the city’s capital budget to open the stores in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

The first grocery store is expected to open by the end of 2027 at The Peninsula development in Hunts Point in the Bronx, the site of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center. The mixed-use development will also include 740 affordable housing units.

A second location is planned for La Marqueta in East Harlem. The administration says one store will open in each borough by the end of Mamdani’s first term.

Under the model, the city will finance construction of the stores on city-owned land while private operators manage daily operations without paying rent or property taxes. The administration says those savings will help subsidize the discounted grocery prices.

Mamdani framed the initiative as a modern version of municipal efforts to lower food costs, citing former Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s creation of city-owned markets following food-price unrest in the early 20th century.

“In the wealthiest city, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, no New Yorker should have to worry about being able to afford to feed their family,” Mamdani said. “Today, we are one step closer to fulfilling that fundamental responsibility.”