The Mamdani administration is facing a new federal lawsuit alleging that its controversial plan to open taxpayer-subsidized grocery stores in the five boroughs violates antitrust laws, The Post has learned.
The National Supermarket Association and two of its members – City Fresh Market in Harlem and C-Town Supermarket in the Bronx – are filing the suit in the Southern District of New York as soon as Tuesday evening, the association’s president Anthony Peña told The Post.
He pointed to millions of dollars in city subsidies to Mamdani’s five proposed publicly run grocery stores as evidence of unfair competition.
“We are arguing that everyone has to be able to access these subsidies,” Peña said. “It’s not about us being afraid of competition. We are against unfair competition.”
His group, which represents 450 independent grocery stores in New York City, is filing the complaint with the America First Policy Institute, a conservative nonprofit chaired by Larry Kudlow, President Trump’s former top economic advisor.
The suit will mark the second major legal effort against the city over Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to open five public supermarkets in low-income neighborhoods. Under his plan, the stores would not pay rent and would sell key items for at least 30% less than neighboring shops, including small bodegas.
In August, the Multicultural Business Coalition, which is comprised of 50 chambers of commerce representing ethnically diverse businesses in New York City, filed two lawsuits in state court alleging that business owners’ civil rights would be violated if the municipal stores are allowed to open.
City Fresh Market, located at 125 E. 116th St., is only about a block away from one of the proposed municipal stores. Mamdani wants to set up a 9,000-square-foot shop inside La Marqueta at Park Avenue and E. 115th Street for an eye-watering $30 million in taxpayer money.
“Independent supermarkets have invested in our neighborhoods, created jobs, paid taxes and served local families for generations,” Peña said. “They deserve a fair and level playing field – not competition against a government-subsidized program operating under different rules.”
Last month, an official with the New York City Economic Development Corporation drew ridicule for suggesting the city might hand out “grants” to shop owners losing business to the city-owned supermarkets. The agency quickly backpedaled on the comment, which was revealed during an interview with NY1.
“We are not currently considering any grant programs for existing grocers,” an EDC spokesperson previously said.
“However, we are looking at the potential for tax abatement, incentives, and zoning benefits through existing city programs to ensure that the city is doing everything in our power to alleviate cost pressures for small businesses,” the spokesperson added.
Mamdani’s grocery store plan is part of the far-left mayor’s strategy of making the city more affordable and was a key pillar of his 2025 campaign.
The first store is scheduled to open next year in the Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point in the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center — near the 809 Southern Blvd. C-Town Supermarket that’s planning to join the suit against the city. The Harlem store is slated to open in 2029, while opening dates for the stores in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island have not been disclosed yet.
The Post has sought comment from the mayor’s office.
“I’m confident both in the legality of this, that it will stand up in court and the importance of delivering it,” Mamdani previously said regarding the Multicultural Business Coalition’s lawsuit.
