Exclusive | Mamdani OKs $75M grocery deal with delivery company despite complaints it owes NYC supermarkets at least $1M in unpaid bills

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is mired in yet another supermarket mess.An online grocery platform that runs a city program for low-income households has stiffed Big Apple grocers to the tune of more than $1 million — even as the city seeks to enlarge the company’s contract to a whopping $75 million, The Post has learned.  San Diego-based Mercato — whose web portal lets eligible New Yorkers purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at a 50% discount from local grocery stores throughout the five boroughs — received $30.4 million over the past four and a half years from the city’s “Groceries to Go” program, city records show.Nevertheless, Mercato this year has failed to pay for more than $1 million in produce it delivered to customers months ago from dozens of independent supermarkets, including C-Town, Bravo and Key Food, according to store owners.“I had to hunt them down and basically beg them for $10,000 — and they still owe me $4,500,” said Anthony Diaz, who manages a C-Town in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In Queens and the Bronx, Mercato owes Jorge Guillen’s two Cherry Valley Marketplace stores a combined $36,000, according to the grocer.“The impact on our business is huge,” Guillen told The Post.“It affects my ability to purchase goods and pay my bills, so we had to find new financing.

We took on debt.”Despite the mess, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently awarded Mercato a $75 million, six-year contract that was slated to begin in July, according to public filings.The health agency told The Post that it is “unaware of delays in payments to supermarkets,” according to a spokesperson.Approval of Mercato’s new contract is being held up by the city Comptroller’s Office, which has “outstanding questions” for the DOHMH, according to a spokesperson for Comptroller Mark Levine.Reached by The Post, the his spokesperson declined to elaborate on the agency’s questions.Last year’s $30.4 million contr...