Grocers file antitrust suit to block Mamdami admins plan for NYC-owned supermarkets: Predatory pricing

Grocers filed a federal antitrust lawsuit to block the Mamdani administration’s plan to push forward with city-owned supermarkets — claiming the proposal would create unfair competition for nearby grocery stores and bodegas.In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in the US Southern District of New York, the National Supermarket Association asked a judge to delay a city bidding process that seeks an operator for the municipal stores so it can rule on whether the program violates antitrust laws.Bids to operate the stores are due on Oct.16, but the complaint asks the court to first make its ruling, with any new bidding deadline to be set 30 days afterwards.

Absent that court-ordered process, plaintiffs warned that any winning bidder could later be sued if the court rules against city’s plan.The suit accuses New York City of “using its own properties to eliminate occupancy costs, immunizing the enterprise from taxes, and then undercutting nearby private businesses through a permanent discount pegged to their competitors’ prices,” according to court papers.“There’s a good grocery store here today,” said Jerry Nunez, owner of City Fresh Market at 125 E.116th St., one of the plaintiffs in the federal suit who came forward for the first time on Wednesday.

“Our customers support it, and 50 people have jobs because of it.Why should the city put all of that at risk?”A spokesperson for the mayor insisted that the program will move forward.“The Mamdani administration designed the NYC Groceries initiative to ensure that the stores we open serve the communities where they are located,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“By the end of the mayor’s first term, every borough will have a high-quality, affordable grocery store that New Yorkers can count on.We remain confident in both the legality and the necessity of NYC Groceries.”The complaint was filed on behalf of the NSA and two grocers in Harlem and the Bronx by attorneys at the America First Policy...