From Newsgroup: nyc.politics

HerCOs selling a rCLbasket of goods.rCY

Mayor Zohran Mamdani admitted Tuesday that the promised lower prices at
his city-owned grocery stores will only be guaranteed for a core set of everyday staples.

Items in those so-called baskets of goods have yet to be decided, but
likely include essentials such as bread, milk and eggs, officials said.

Beyond those essentials, the stores will also sell other foodstuffs and
items. Officials said theyrCOll aim to make those items low-cost as well,
but may not always be able to achieve the perpetual discount.

rCLWhen it comes to the products that we will be selling at the city-run grocery stores, there will be an essential basket of goods that will be guaranteed a cheaper price, and cheaper than what theyrCOre being sold at currently,rCY Mamdani said during a news conference at La Marqueta in
Harlem.

The already city-owned La Marqueta was the first location revealed to
host MamdanirCOs socialist pet grocery project, but he said Tuesday the
actual store rCo which carries a whopping $30 million expected price tag rCo wonrCOt open until 2029.

Other yet-to-be-decided municipal grocery stores will open before then,
with the first expected to greet shoppers in late 2027, officials said.

rCLThis store will be open in 2029,rCY Mamdani said. rCLThe reason that werCOre announcing it first is because, unlike other stores, this will be built
from the ground up.rCY

The store at La Marqueta is planned to be a 9,000-square-foot market
erected on a nearby vacant lot, officials said.

The project will cost roughly half the $70 million MamdanirCOs
administration expects to spend to get the city-owned grocery stores off
the ground in all five boroughs by the end of his first term.

The funding still requires approval from the City Council.

Grocery executives were gobsmacked by the La Marqueta projectrCOs $30
million price tag, with some pointing out a typical, 15,000-square-foot
store without elevators or escalators costs under $10 million to build.

And at least two existing properties rCo one with 33,000 square feet of
retail space, the other with 15,000 square feet rCo are currently up for
sale down the block from La Marqueta for roughly $15 million and $7
million, listings show.

Mamdani pitched the city-owned stores starting during his mayoral
campaign as an affordability measure thatrCOll tackle the often-volatile
price of groceries.

City Hall officials plan to tap a private operator to manage the storesrCO daily operations.

rCLWhat itrCOs going to allow people to do is itrCOs going to allow them to budget, and itrCOs going to allow it to feel the predictability of price,rCY Mamdani said.

The price of a rCLcore basket of goodsrCY rCo which Mamdani and City Hall officials didnrCOt specify rCo will be fixed, the mayor said.

Officials didnrCOt respond to The PostrCOs requests for comment on what
exactly the goods will be rCo although Julie Su, the deputy mayor for
economic justice, vaguely promised the city will subsidize the rCLthings
that families actually need every week.rCY

rCLAnd we will listen to the community, so the food on the shelves will
reflect what people in this neighborhood eat,rCY she added during
MamdanirCOs news conference.

Jeanny Pak, the interim president for the cityrCOs Economic Development Corporation, said the core basket will be fresh, everyday grocery items
with a fixed discount.

rCLItrCOs going to be fixed throughout the five stores,rCY she said.

The EDC already oversees six public retail markets across the city,
including La Marqueta rCo which carries a rich, symbolically resonant
history for a public service-focused socialist such as Mamdani.

Former Mayor Fiorella La Guardia opened the establishment in 1936 as the
Park Avenue Retail Market to put pushcart vendors under one roof and
provide fresh food for working-class New Yorkers.

The public space has evolved over the decades into La Marqueta, which
now hosts 20 small businesses from restaurants to art vendors.

The other city-owned EDC retail markets are Arthur Avenue Market, Essex
Market Gourmet Glatt, Jamaica Farmers Market and Moore Street Market rCo a swath of popular locations which variously host groceries, food vendors,
dining halls and farmers markets.

Like those existing spaces, La MarquetarCOs planned grocery store will be
open to everyone, officials said.

Mamdani said the La Marqueta store will open later than other city-owned groceries because it will require building it from the ground up.

rCLThe store that will be open next year in 2027 and the additional stores
that will be open by the end of 2029 will not require this same scale of production,rCY he said.

https://nypost.com/2026/04/14/us-news/zohran-mamdanis-city-owned-grocery- stores-will-only-guarantee-lower-prices-for-a-core-basket-of-goods/

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