The South Bronx will be getting the city’s first municipally run grocery store, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday.
The 20,000-square-foot store, set to rise at The Peninsula in Hunts Point, is expected to open next year, the mayor said at a news conference.
The development sits on the site of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center. It will also include 740 units of affordable housing, he added.
What You Need To Know
The city’s first municipally run grocery store will be situated in the South Bronx, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said
The 20,000-square-foot store, set to rise at The Peninsula in Hunts Point, is expected to open next year
The development at the site of the former Spoford Juvenile Detention Center will also include 740 units of affordable housing
Mamdani’s administration has said it aims to open one city-run grocery store in each borough before the end of his tenure
“In these stores, prices will be cheaper. Workers will be paid fairly and treated with dignity,” Mamdani said. “Going to the grocery store will no longer cause that same anxiety for so many New Yorkers.”
The mayor noted that the nearby Hunts Point Cooperative Market, one of the world’s largest food distribution centers, stands in contrast to the limited options available to many Bronx residents.
“Seventy-seven percent of households in surrounding neighborhoods cannot afford basic needs,” he said. “More than 50% of households have relied on public assistance in the last 12 months alone, and when nearby families go shopping for groceries, there are not enough affordable options nearby.”
“With only one full-service supermarket within a quarter mile, thousands of New Yorkers have only limited options,” he added. “We are here together today to change that, and to chart a new course.”
City-run grocery stores were among Mamdani’s key promises on the campaign trail. His administration has said it aims to open one in each borough before the end of his tenure.
In April, he said one of the five stores would open at La Marqueta, a historic marketplace underneath the Metro-North Railroad tracks in East Harlem, by the end of 2029.
“Standing here this morning, I cannot help but think of the words of our 40th president, Ronald Reagan,” Mamdani said Monday. “He famously said, ‘The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’”
“It’s a good quote, but I disagree. I think nine more terrifying words are actually, ‘I worked all day, and can’t feed my family,’” he added. “We are going to use the power of government to lower prices and make it easier for New Yorkers to put food on the table.”