Exclusive | Immigrant grocers sue Mamdani over government-owned supermarkets, liken plan to Walmart coming to NYC

Immigrant grocers and bodegas sued Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his plan to open five government-owned supermarkets — likening his plans to the devastating competitive threat that would be posed by Walmart coming to New York City.The Multicultural Business Coalition, which is comprised of 50 chambers of commerce representing ethnically diverse businesses, filed two lawsuits in New York state court on Monday — one of them a seven-page class-action on behalf of “hundreds” of store owners who are “members of groups historically discriminated against.”The class-action alleges that the business owners’ civil rights will be violated if the municipal stores are allowed to open, according to court papers.The second suit — a 13-page filing in New York state Supreme Court — claims that the government-owned stores would present problems similar to those posed by Walmart, which has attempted several times to enter the Big Apple without success.For years, the Arkansas-based discounter has faced fierce opposition from New York politicians, with legislators and labor unions claiming small businesses would be decimated by the retail giant.The municipal grocery stores “have pledged to sell food items 30% below the market-rate, a rate that rivals or exceeds Walmart discounts,” according to the second filing.The suit likened the government-owned supermarket plan to “allowing Walmart to operate deep discount business, while bringing ‘affordability'” — claiming that the plan “would eliminate an untold amount of opportunity for minority businesses and small business at large.”The suit likewise accuses the city and mayor of failing to perform a “proper review” before revealing its plans in July, including a land-use study to determine how the taxpayer-funded stores would affect existing stores nearby.“There is no extant evidence that the respondents have undertaken any studies and or serious analysis before its current arbitrary site selection,” acco...