URGENT: CLICK TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE LEFT!
(DC Pundit) – New York City residents who were excited about the city-owned grocery stores promised by their newly elected democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani might want to get comfortable, because they are going to be waiting a very long time.
Mamdani, who swept into office on a platform heavy with progressive promises, is now delivering the kind of reality check that anyone with a basic understanding of government-run anything could have predicted from a mile away. The first new city-owned grocery store is going to cost upward of $30 million in taxpayer dollars — and won’t be ready until 2029. Three years. To build a grocery store. With other people’s money. Just think about how many hands that $30 million is going to pass through before a single can of soup hits a shelf.
There is apparently a second location planned for 2027, which will be housed in an existing building and won’t require new construction. So the bar has been set at “we found an empty building.” Inspiring stuff.
Here’s a question worth asking: how long would it take a private company, working with investors and actual financial accountability, to open a grocery store? The answer is certainly not three years and certainly not $30 million of public funds.
Zohran Mamdani says NYC will begin programs for government-run grocery stores where everything is cheaper: “It is time for a grand experiment.” pic.twitter.com/AA3VtJVpxI
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) April 14, 2026
There’s another wrinkle worth noting. Mamdani is now saying the food at these stores will be cheaper — not free. Didn’t he campaign on the promise of free food? Funny how those bold campaign promises have a way of quietly shrinking once the election is won and someone hands you the actual budget numbers.
The people of New York City voted for this experiment in government-run commerce, and the next few years are going to deliver a very expensive, very slow-moving lesson in basic economics. Unfortunately, it’s the taxpayers who will be picking up the tab for that education.
URGENT: CLICK TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST THE LEFT!
Copyright 2026. DCPundit.com | Featured image credit: Bingjiefu He, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons