NY Mayor Mamdani admits city-owned grocery stores have limited ability to lower prices on many items

After vowing that city-owned grocery stores could bring down residents' costs, New York Mayor Zohran Momdani now admits that the city can't guarantee prices on most items. 

During a news conference in Harlem Tuesday, Mamdani said there will be a "basket of goods" that will receive a government-guaranteed lower price than what they're being sold at now, The New York Post reported. 

These items will be essentials like bread, milk and eggs. A perpetual discount on non-essential items may not always be possible, officials said. 

Mamdani announced that the La Marqueta store, which is already city-owned, will be among his socialist-style grocery stores. It carries a $30 million price tag and won't be open until 2029. Though, officials said other store locations, which haven't been announced, will be open as early as 2027. 

Mamdani said the La Marqueta location is the first one announced because, unlike the others, it's being built from the ground up. 

Private-sector grocery stores can be built and operational in as little as six months. The Post reported that two existing properties — one with 33,000 square feet and another with 15,000 square feet — are up for sale in the same area for less than half the $30 million price tag of Mamdani's store. 

The $30 million in funding still needs to be approved by the City Council.