From Newsgroup: nyc.politics

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman aims to use a
little-known clause in the state Constitution to try squashing NYC Mayor
Zohran MamdaniAs taxpayer-funded, $70 million city-owned grocery store
scheme.

The oGift and Loan Clauseo prohibits municipalities from giving and
lending public money or property to private entities.

oThis unconstitutional subsidy poses a direct threat to long-standing, tax-paying businesses, risking widespread closures and job losses within
the community,o Blakeman told The Post.

The 150-year-old law u which was created to stop local governments from diverting public funds to private railroad companies and other favored individuals and entities u also mandates municipal funds be used for a
public purpose or benefit.

MamdaniAs plan to open a city-owned supermarket in each of the five
boroughs, run by select private companies, violates the law because it undermines other private-market competitors by using public funds to
keep prices down, the Nassau County executive contends.

oLocal independent supermarkets and bodegas, which operate on razor-thin margins, cannot compete with a government-backed entity that faces zero overhead costs,o said Blakeman, who trails Gov. Kathy Hochul by 6 points
in the latest gubernatorial race polls

Hochul, who endorsed Mamdani for mayor, has expressed indirect criticism
of the HIzzonerAs plan, telling business leaders at an August 2025
breakfast in the Hamptons: oI favor free enterprise.o Since then, she
has not made any public comments on the plan.

Any legal challenge to MamdaniAs Soviet-style supermarket plan would
likely end up in court, as it is not certain it meets the clauseAs
public benefit standard.

The mayor would likely contend that lowering grocery costs for New
Yorkers qualifies, legal experts say. Blakeman argues the opposite u
that publicly run stores would drive out competition, eliminate jobs and
shrink consumer choices.

James M. McGuire, a former state appellate judge and chief counsel to Republican ex-Gov. George Pataki, said Blakeman omay have a difficult
timeo having his argument hold up to any legal challenges based on
oprecedentso set by the state Court of Appeals.

Gristedes supermarket CEO John Catsimatidis said heAs unfamiliar with
the Gift and Loan Clause, but he hopes ocommon sense prevailso and that MamdaniAs supermarket plan is spiked u no matter who wins the
gubernatorial race.

The billionaire WABC-AM radio owner also said that if Mamdani is serious
about driving down grocery costs he should simply subsidize grocers who
buy milk, eggs and bread in bulk on the condition they pass the savings
on to customers.

The MayorAs Office didnAt return messages.

Blakeman called MamdaniAs plan oan incredibly expensive socialist pipe
dream that forces local mom-and-pop shops u who already pay astronomical
state taxes u to compete against a government monopoly subsidized by
those very same tax dollars.o

oWe are literally forcing neighborhood grocers to fund their own
demise,o he continued. oNew York runs on fiscal responsibility, free enterprise, and the grit of local entrepreneurs u not bottomless
government spending on Soviet-style supermarkets.o

https://nypost.com/2026/07/11/us-news/blakeman-ill-use-ny-constitution-to -block-mamdanis-plan/

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