An immigrant-led business alliance has voted to sue New York City to block Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s controversial $70 million taxpayer-funded municipal grocery store project, citing concerns over unfair competition.
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Breitbart News reports that the Multicultural Business Coalition’s (MBC) board approved the lawsuit to block five city-run supermarkets that would sell produce, meat, milk, cheese, and bread at a 30 percent discount.
The MBC plans to build a nonpartisan $1 million legal and lobbying war chest to challenge Mamdani’s initiative in the coming weeks.
Let’s gooooo! Immigrant-owned businesses are suing socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his taxpayer-funded grocery stores!
The Multicultural Business Coalition, representing Asian, African, Caribbean, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Jewish-owned businesses, voted to file a… pic.twitter.com/57lGuQcJcC
— Blue Lives Matter (@bluelivesmtr) July 29, 2026
MBC chairman Frank Garcia told The New York Post, “The mayor doesn’t seem to want to sit down with us,” before promising that Mamdani “won’t be able to bully these lawyers we are going to bring in.”
The coalition, which was formed earlier this year to fight the grocery policy, includes 50 chambers of commerce representing Asian, African, Caribbean, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Jewish-owned businesses.
The legal action came after Mamdani announced that the five planned municipal supermarkets will offer a permanent 30 percent discount on core pantry staples like produce, meat, milk, and bread for all residents, according to The Post.
The coalition cites concerns that Mamdani’s plan creates unfair competition and that private grocers cannot compete with heavily subsidized stores that pay no municipal rent or real estate taxes.
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The MBC also worries that heavily discounted municipal prices risk driving nearby multi-generational immigrant businesses out of operation.
Business groups also claim city officials have unethically entered local grocers demanding private pricing and sales data.
MBC and other groups representing thousands of grocery stores and bodegas have pointed to five bodegas within just a few blocks of the city-run stored planned for East Harlem, in the space known as La Marqueta.
Some Harlem store owners fear they will be put out of business because of the cheaper prices at Mamdani’s stores – which will not pay rent because they will be built on municipal property, according to the mayor’s office.
At a Monday press conference, Mamdani said, “We are not looking to compete with bodegas or grocery stores when it comes to their ability to survive.”
The NYC Mayor said the city-run stores will not carry hot food or staples like alcohol, cigarettes, and lottery tickets, and argued the shops pose no threat to existing businesses.
Mamdani is pushing to open one store in each borough by 2029, starting with the Bronx.
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