Mamdanis $70M city-owned grocery store plan hasnt been studied for small business impact

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration hasn’t bothered to study his city-run grocery store plan’s potential effect on local small businesses, his budget chief admitted Tuesday. The revelation came during a City Council hearing when Sherif Soliman — the director of the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget — was grilled on what studies the administration was conducting to see how nearby grocers would be impacted.“We are attuned to those issues,” Soliman said when pressed by Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D-Staten Island), as he dodged on specifics.“We also know that there are small business services we are investing in as much as we can to help small businesses.” Mamdani’s pricey plan to build a city-owned grocery store in each of the five boroughs has been denounced by a slew of local business groups — with mom-and-pop shopkeepers fearing they won’t be able to compete with the new outposts’ subsidized pricing.A coalition of disgruntled business owners also has already built up a $1 million war chest to oppose the initiative – which the city has announced two locations for, leaving three promised shops remaining.The mayor has claimed his grocery store plan — a key platform of his campaign — will allow New Yorkers to purchase discounted goods and only cost the city roughly $70 million.But the Manhattan-based store, announced by Mamdani in April, is already slated to cost at least $30 million.Mamdani claimed his office was conducting “sustained outreach” to grocery stores and trade organizations at a May press conference — but grocery store owners disputed that, saying they still hadn’t heard from any city officials.Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politicsFrank Garcia, chairman of the Multicultural Business Coalition nonprofit group, claimed Mamdani’s office had been radio silent.“We have not heard anything from the mayor.

We’ve reached out, we’ve sent letters — ...