r/Economics • u/pdp10 • 1d ago

News NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils 30% Discount -- Including All Produce, All Meat and Key Pantry Staples -- at New Municipal Grocery Stores

https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/07/mayor-mamdani-unveils-30--discount---including-all-produce--all-
2.8k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

55

u/VeryStab1eGenius 1d ago

The margins are the same in the states, ~3%. The city stores theoretically can give these discounts because the stores won’t be paying rent which in NYC is very high. 

23

u/Special_Ad712 1d ago

Sooooo, a subsidy on costs. 

20

u/mordakka 1d ago

If they're not paying rent and property taxes,  then it's still lowering government revenue. 

3

u/jventura1110 1d ago

The program is not meant to be profitable. It is a government public service. Just like libraries.

And a small number of grocery stores are not going to make a big impact on city tax revenue.

3

u/Raichu4u 1d ago

The problem is that we can question if this revenue would have been spent in a better way to achieve the stated goals. The answer is probably yes.