() New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist with a progressive agenda that some critics deride as “communist,” may not get the bodega owner vote.
His proposal for the city to own and operate five grocery stores one in each borough is not sitting well with the people who run corner markets where New Yorkers go for their essentials.
“You start with one idea like this a foolish idea it may spread, and we don’t want it to get to that,” Fernando Mateo, spokesperson for the United Bodegas of America, told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Thursday.
Mamdani says he would redirect some of the money the city already spends to subsidize private grocers that operate in underserved areas to finance the public markets; some have questioned the accuracy of his figures. The state assemblyman, who upset former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the recent Democratic Party mayoral primary, says his plan would offer consumers a lower-cost alternative.
Mateo counters that Mamdani’s plan would spell doom for tax-paying bodega owners, who typically are hard-working immigrants running independent businesses.
“They come here to try to make a living and do the right thing by the city. A bodega is not just where you sell food. They’re also community centers,” he said.
Mamdani has campaigned on other socialist proposals that include no-cost child care and free transit rides. His meteoric rise has not gone unnoticed by the national media. Republicans, meanwhile, have tried to paint him as an example of where the Democratic Party is moving, with President Trump calling Mamdani a “Communist Lunatic” and threatening to have him arrested if his future administration obstructs federal immigration agents.
