As Mayor Zohran Mamdani cries poverty and talks about raising the tax rate on homeowners to 30% from 18½%, he wants to waste $70 million on his government-owned grocery stores, as they have in Cuba.
The NY Post reports that he plans to spend $70 million on his plan for a network of five government-owned grocery stores, a sum $10 million higher than he pledged on the campaign trail, even as his administration warns of a multibillion-dollar fiscal shortfall and raises the prospect of higher property taxes.
He is also going to waste money on a feasibility study, undoubtedly conducted by allies and donors.
He is currently running a $5.4 billion budget gap.
It is a socialist freebie to lure in permanent voters, and he will do it without the funds.
Mamdani appears to want to bankrupt the city. Is he counting on being bailed out by the state and federal government?
That will mean competition that regular groceries can’t survive. The average profit margin on a grocery is 1% to 3% unless it’s a specialty store. If governments run them, they have the bottomless purse of the taxpayer and no accountability.
The communist mayor is not going to charge his groceries, rent, or taxes.
Mamdani’s plan would create “Soviet” markets where customers could be stuck with just “one brand or generic brands” of items like bread and milk, insisted Jason Ferraira, a board member of the National Supermarket Association. He also runs three Foodtown supermarkets in Queens, as the NY Post reported during his campaign.
The city can’t run hospitals, police, education, or anything well.
More on his plan at the Post.
