Joseph Hernandez, Republican and Conservative candidate for New York State Comptroller, stood with the Multicultural Business Coalition and bodega and supermarket owners today as the coalition announced its lawsuit challenging Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s taxpayer-funded municipal grocery store program.
Hernandez warned that the fight over Mamdani’s five government-run grocery stores is bigger than New York City. With Governor Kathy Hochul and Albany providing nearly $8 billion in new state assistance to New York City over two years, taxpayers from every corner of New York are helping fund City Hall while Mamdani expands his socialist agenda. Governor Hochul’s announcement on nearly $8 billion in state assistance.
“Mamdani may be the Mayor of New York City, but taxpayers from Buffalo to Long Island are helping pay his bills,” said Hernandez. “Albany is sending billions of dollars to City Hall while Mamdani experiments with taxpayer money. As Comptroller, my job will be to follow that money, audit it and hold him accountable.”
At the press conference, Hernandez released an independent analysis of Mamdani’s municipal grocery program estimating a combined three-year cost and economic impact of approximately $206 million. The analysis breaks the potential cost into three major areas: $70 million in upfront construction costs, $106 million in estimated operating costs over three years, and $30 million in estimated economic impact on nearby bodegas and small grocery stores.
The Mamdani administration has already allocated $70 million in capital funding for five municipal grocery stores, one in each borough, and says the stores will sell a core basket of groceries at prices 30% below typical retail prices.
Hernandez’s model estimates that operating all five stores could cost approximately $35 million per year, or $106 million over three years, including the cost of subsidized discounts, forgone rent and property tax revenue, labor and staffing expenses, and administrative overhead. The analysis also estimates that roughly 450 bodegas and neighborhood grocery stores could be affected by the subsidized competition, with about 67 potentially closing altogether. Under the model’s base assumptions, the resulting economic impact on those businesses could total approximately $30 million over three years. |
“This is exactly what the Comptroller should be doing,” said Hernandez. “Run the numbers before the money is gone. Ask what taxpayers are really on the hook for. We know City Hall is spending $70 million just to build these stores. What happens in year one, year two and year three? Who keeps paying for the subsidies? And what happens to the small businesses forced to compete against their own government?”
The Multicultural Business Coalition’s lawsuit argues that privately, minority owned supermarkets and bodegas cannot fairly compete against government-backed stores that receive taxpayer subsidies and other advantages unavailable to neighborhood businesses.
“These small business owners pay rent, pay taxes, make payroll and employ people in their communities,” said Hernandez. “Now government wants them to keep paying those taxes while using their own money to subsidize their competition. That is an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars.”
Hernandez, whose family fled communist Cuba, said Mamdani’s approach represents a fundamental difference in how government should treat entrepreneurs and small businesses.
“My family experienced communism firsthand. I know where the belief that government can run businesses better than entrepreneurs leads,” said Hernandez. “I believe in capitalism, free enterprise and the American Dream. Government should be helping the men and women who risk their own money to build businesses, not becoming their taxpayer-funded competitor.”
“I was proud to stand with the Multicultural Business Coalition and these small business owners today,” Hernandez concluded. “As Comptroller, I will be the watchdog standing between New York taxpayers and Mamdani’s socialist experiment. No blank checks. No excuses. We need new leadership in Albany that will follow the money and hold government accountable.” |
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