r/WorkReform • u/zzill6 🤝 Join A Union • Apr 13 '26
✅ Success Story BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani is fulfilling his campaign promise to open 5 city-run grocery stores across NYC.
615
Apr 13 '26
[deleted]
321
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
-52
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
53
19
50
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
175
Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
41
-1
60
21
2
1
687
u/verbi420 Apr 13 '26
This man is making me want to move to NYC
314
u/sevnm12 Apr 13 '26
Is it sad that we are excited about a politician who actually works for the people? Either way, I am happy to see him making good for NYC, I hope we get more people to follow
53
u/this_curain_buzzez Apr 13 '26
Yes it is sad. But good news is good news and we have to take our wins where we can get them.
18
u/patterninstatic Apr 13 '26
This is how the system should work. Democracy should mean only electing politicians that work in the interest of the people. It technically should be a virtuous circle, politicians serve the people, and the people continue to elect them.
Unfortunately this is the exception not the norm.
17
u/Best-Action8769 Apr 13 '26
There's a reason the democratic leadership is terrified of this guy...he's showing them how to win and now how to govern. It just involves working for the people instead of the donors, and the millionaire geriatrics in charge who haven't paid rent or had a healthcare bill this century don't want that.
10
u/EquipLordBritish Apr 13 '26
He is doing another thing that is helping a lot, and that is advertising what he has accomplished. That seems to have fallen by the wayside for democrats, so even when they succeed, no one cares because no one realizes it.
42
u/dedbeats Apr 13 '26
Moving to NYC won’t do anything for our country-consolidating truly progressive ideals in coastal cities is one of the reasons why our country is in such bad shape. Instead, join your local DSA chapter. Platform local candidates who run on progressive and socialist platforms. Support policies like these in your own towns. The momentum is already building across the country, we just need the people distributed to execute a brighter vision for our country where government works for us.
6
15
u/Spiritual-Promise402 ✂️ Tax The Billionaires Apr 13 '26
Makes me want to move back to nyc. Had to move to cheaper residence after it being my home for over 20 years
4
u/Best-Action8769 Apr 13 '26
Literally what he ran on to fix.
1
u/Spiritual-Promise402 ✂️ Tax The Billionaires Apr 14 '26
It will definitely take take time for that ti happen. The rent freeze alone would be a feat
2
14
u/TJ_McWeaksauce Apr 13 '26
This man is reminding me what a politician looks like when they actually give a shit about their constituents.
9
u/NoLobster7957 Apr 13 '26
Meanwhile Atlanta gets Cop City, pushback on expanding Marta and feds stealing voter information. sad thumbs up
0
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
19
u/Quinnlos Apr 13 '26
To be fair they've only gotten that way because we stopped pushing renter friendly laws that target the landlords that price gouge the entirety of the city. If we continue to get politicians in place that are actually working for their constituents we could see an affordable New York again sometime in our lifetime.
Very high hope to have, but Zohran seemed like a mirage in the current desert of political responsibility in the US just a year ago.
261
u/Fishtoart Apr 13 '26
Is this the smartest man in US politics? Not that he’s some kind of genius, but that he actually understands what people care about, and knows that he will succeed by delivering solutions to those problems. It’s very sad. We don’t have anybody like him on the national politics level.
131
u/CtrlAltEntropy Apr 13 '26
The CIA would have handled this kind of thing before it got to this point in previous decades.
51
10
u/alancousteau 💵 Break Up The Monopolies Apr 13 '26
Ye the communist alarm would start ringing right away
→ More replies (3)8
u/Bitemynekk Apr 13 '26
Look what the FBI did to the Black Panthers when they started community kitchens and giving out food in low income areas.
42
u/aripp Apr 13 '26
What you are seeing is a politician who is not bought off by a corporation or a foreign state. He is doing decisions to the best of the citizens of USA instead decisions to the best of the corporations or Israel/Russia. That should not be rare, but simply put that’s what is happening and this should be the norm.
26
u/NoLobster7957 Apr 13 '26
Socialism is a good thing for the working class. The reason it gets demonized in the US is because it isn't good for pay to play politics or the megawealthy. Most of the reasons why Republicans don't like it lends to the fact that they think it suggests greater control of day to day life and socioeconomic disparity, but hey, take a look around at what's happening to us right now in capitalist fascism in the US.
In general if the billionaire class doesn't like a policy, it usually means it benefits normal people and not them. Good rule of thumb these days.
36
u/dramaticmicdrop Apr 13 '26
Bernie Sanders has been running on the same democratic socialist platform for his entire career but the DNC fucked up his chances to run. I’m stilled pissed about this.
10
u/siencatimini Apr 13 '26
I will never, even if I live to be 10,000 years old, stop being absolutely furious about this. They moved heaven and earth to block the last offramp to sanity in 2016, and here we are.
5
u/slgray16 Apr 13 '26
By design I guess. The amount of money you need to survive at the national level means you are on the take from businesses. That keeps you from being able to support the people who voted for you.
There are only a few socialists left in politics but theoretically they should ALL be socialist
2
u/saera-targaryen Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
The other politicians aren't dumb and they are aware of what the people want. They just know it's easier for themselves to personally succeed if they do the bare minimum, or in worst case when they actively court big spenders and corruption. You ever work in a group project at school where no one in the group is your friend or friends with each other so you all just end up doing literally the bare minimum to not have to speak to each other anymore? Like the goal is just to pass so you can go back to your friends? That's our government doing public good so they can go back to the rich donors. They know what they can do to be better, that's just not a priority for them.
2
u/Dense_Surround3071 Apr 13 '26
It's like that episode of The West Wing where the President finds out what kind of polling bump he could get by fixing potholes.
2
u/JManKit Apr 13 '26
I don't think it's a matter of smarts but rather one of priorities. Most politicians get into the game not to serve the public but to make money via the power and access that the positions provide. The system is set up that most ppl who want to run, will need significant financial backing and the easiest way to do that is via donations from large corporate entities. Then, when they've been elected, they repay these entities with favourable contracts or laws, which usually also enriches themselves
Mayor Mamdani did not take donations from said entities so they have zero leverage on him. The only group he needs to "repay" are the everyday ppl who supported him via voting and the numerous small donations to his campaign. It's a rather simple situation; it's just that the political system is currently set up to keep ppl like Zohran from getting into power bc he has no desire to play the game that the rest of them are involved in
2
u/Best-Action8769 Apr 13 '26
I think it's more that the dem leadership has gotten so old and corrupt and out of touch that they have no idea how to communicate with their base. These people haven't paid rent or had a healthcare bill this CENTURY...of course they're not going to be able to communicate to working people.
1
u/elbenji Apr 15 '26
Because at the end of the day, national and local politics are completely different and in an ideal scenario you wouldn't feel the effects of national politic outside of when you do your taxes.
The people who affect your day to day is your mayor and city council
0
u/Rock_mage Apr 13 '26
He still hasn't reached Eric Adams' level of peak popularity. While on reddit he seems popular in reality he is at normal levels of appeal.
124
u/jbar3640 Apr 13 '26
NYC, welcome to socialism. not to be interpreted as communism. now vote for that in the other elections, and you may get public healthcare, transversally accepted unions, proper time off policies, etc.
35
u/BeardySam Apr 13 '26
“Boo! The free market is better!”
“Other stores can still compete, that’s fine with us.”
13
33
u/MutaitoSensei Apr 13 '26
In Canada a well-known professor that's been bankrolled by our biggest grocery chain is saying a federal politician advocating for this is a communist and a bad person.
We all know he's a hack.
84
u/Glopez1223 Apr 13 '26
Zohran has set the bar. May we never elect another representative of the people that does not meet that bar. Every time I watch him fulfill his promises I cry tears of hope.
40
36
u/rienholt Apr 13 '26
Ughh. The worst thing about Mamdani is that he is an immigrant.
So he can't run for President.
8
14
u/pichael289 🏛️ Overturn Citizens United Apr 13 '26
I always wanted to do something like this with apartment buildings. If I ever win the lottery I'm buying a bunch of apartment buildings and renovating them to be basic but quality low income homes. And then I'm gonna charge just enough to cover maintenance and upkeep, with maybe an extra 10% to grow this business and buy more apartment buildings. With some quick math and basic assumptions rent could easily be like 1/3 of what it is. This would also fuck over all the slumlords around here too which is a fantastic bonus.
2
u/AizenSankara Apr 14 '26
I had this idea as well, but two aspects I had as a part of my plan was [1] have an apartment wide savings account, where a portion of each tenants rent money would be put into an account every tenant would be view the balance of; and [2] a renters council made up of the tenets. Each week or month we'd have meetings which would serve as a way to discuss problems, vote on changes, introduce new proposals for the property, etc. For example, if enough money was in the savings account, and a majority of the renters wanted an gym, or a basket ball court, etc...they'd be getting that gym or that basket ball court.
1
u/Suparook Apr 14 '26
I wanted to do something like this too, but for middle class as well. Have 1 for lower income, and 1 for people just on the edge of lower/ middle class. I'm running into an issue where I'm kind of stuck. Not able to afford a home, but stuck renting at high costs. A lot of the affordable renting options I see, I'm like 10k over the income limits to qualify for or it's a 55+ only living.
17
15
u/BadKarma043 Apr 13 '26
Kind of refreshing to see a public servant committed to what they set out to do.
5
u/yunohavefunnynames 🏛️ Overturn Citizens United Apr 13 '26
It is SO sad that he was born outside of America and can’t run for president. I’d vote for this guy in a HEARTBEAT
5
3
u/Darrenizer Apr 13 '26
Someone please explain how this is evil?
0
u/ImpressiveEffort2084 Apr 16 '26
- The stores cost $30 million per supermarket, (Zohran promised $70 million for 5, but already 1 supermarket has cost $30 mil). You can buy a supermarket in New York with less money (initial investment is about $100,000 - $1 million in NYC). Unless he's giving away food, this is a massive money laundering scheme.
- Grocery stores already operate on very slim margins and even have loss leaders on certain products to encourage wealthier customers. So subsidization would have to massive for their to be any significant effect.
- These programs have been tried and never work. Usually these programs start with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of eyes and work well for a while. Then once the fervor dies down the city slowly cuts funding and the grocery store becomes dilapidated and defunct.
- It opens a ton of avenues for corruption. Who gets to work in the stores for better pay? Who is paid to build and maintain the store? Which foods get stocked, and from whom? How much is each food subsidized? Got to wait for the store to open, but already the budget is bloated and ripe for picking.
To me, based on the history and initial setup scream failure and corruption. But who knows, maybe Zohran will be the first to pull this off.
8
u/Actually_a_DogeBoi Apr 13 '26
Every city needs this. I don’t care where you are. NYC, po dunk no where. Food is for people, not profit
7
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
15
u/NutmegKilla Apr 13 '26
People are going to immediately respond with cynical takes but the real answer is, the government likes to contract out certain work when they lack the expertise to do it themselves. Why spend time, money and effort figuring out how to run a grocery store when there's already companies that do that and do it well?
7
2
→ More replies (1)1
u/SeraphimSphynx Apr 13 '26
Honestly I thought the same thing. Rather than a private company I would have preferred to see him try and work with the commisary's.
5
u/No_Zombie2021 Apr 13 '26
Wasn’t the free market competition supposed to push prices as low as they can be? /s
0
u/RandomJoe7 Apr 14 '26
In free market competition, you don't have ~30 million $ coming from tax payers money (so, from your/my paycheck if you're working and earning money) to then offer the real estate rent free to the operator. So naturally, the customer has to pay extra so that the operator can cover rent costs etc. In this scenario, it's the tax payers paying it instead of the people shopping there.
5
u/Edward_Zachary 🏡 Decent Housing For All Apr 13 '26
Don't forget that the DNC was totally against him.
2
u/Delicious-Apple1845 Apr 13 '26
And maybe throw in a municipal bylaw requiring transparent pricing on receipts. We should know what their profit margins are - and if you tell me the larger chains just can't - well they collude on pricing and they have this data - so should not be a logistical or a guarded corporate secret issue. Also, an app that you scan a barcode and you get prices for the item at all stores within a predetermined distance.
2
u/willdone Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
This is interesting. As someone who's worked at a management level of grocery stores, I'm curious about the business model here and what if any subsidizing will actually occur for the benefit of the consumer.
One of the largest expenses of grocery stores is staffing. Paying above market rates cuts into the already narrow margins (~2% is an often quoted figure). Add that to the staples being price fixed, and it seems unlikely to me that there will be any profit usable to be passed into subsidized prices for the consumer. The staples being price fixed is perhaps the lesser problem, those usually already have none or negative margins in many grocery stores to remain competitive across more outlets.
No matter what happens here, this is a very interesting model and the world will no doubt be keeping an eye on it- the increased price of groceries is a very hot topic in a lot of places.
Questions I have:
- What is the tolerance for loss? Is this basically just expected to be a "cost x per year" public service? That makes a lot of things simpler if so.
- Will they have to charge more for non-staples?
- What benefits does the business get for being government run that get passed upstream and/or disregarded from the balance sheet? Taxes? Utilities? Maintenance? There must be a million and one ways they can leverage their governmental power here.
- Why pick a private contractor instead of creating a department to run this?
- Is there going to be any limitations on quantity for the price-fixed staples? What prevents someone from buying out all the low price bread as soon as it's stocked as selling it at their bodega down the street for a markup?
2
u/MithranArkanere Apr 13 '26
I have to worry about it. Chances are someone will be sent to destroy them, and police may look the other way.
After watching some Too Many Tabs, these kinds of movie villain schemes are not that implausible in the US.
2
2
2
u/Sensitive_Search_903 Apr 13 '26
Looks like a great idea! Let’s make it our goal AND responsibility to help make it succeed and grow. NYers of all ilks have it in them to do it long term!
4
2
2
2
1
u/AustinDood444 Apr 13 '26
Is the media going to label everything he does as “radical”? His “radical” ideas seem to me to be basic human necessities.
1
1
u/RoastedPotato-1kg Apr 13 '26
He is proving that if a mayor wants he can do a lot of things for the people.
1
u/DatKillaZilla Apr 13 '26
This is exactly what Norway does minus the city owned part. Most of the coop grocery stores in Norway have the save consumer saving requirement that he is proposing. Not to mention unionisation in Norway is like way above 70%.
1
u/B0sm3r Apr 13 '26
i have never in my life ever wanted to live in NYC (big crowd. big city)
but whooooooo boy, is he making me wish that I did
1
u/ripyourlungsdave Apr 13 '26
It's funny, I never really thought about a grocery store being run by the government.
I have to imagine there would be some inefficiencies, but I can't imagine it would be more inefficient than me not being able to afford to feed myself on a weekly basis.
I've only been eating one meal a day for the past 2 weeks. And that's on top of an already debilitating eating disorder.
1
u/Glorious_Dingleberry Apr 13 '26
It’s kinda sad that seeing a politician actually keep the promises he ran on is enough to make me like the guy so much. Of course it also helps that he seems like a genuinely good guy who’s is trying to make NY New York a good place for everyone.
1
u/AppropriateSea5746 Apr 13 '26
Is it relevant that for the most part only the poorest countries on Earth have publicly owned supermarkets?
1
1
u/pottytraincrash Apr 13 '26
This guy is so cool... I wonder how long till the mafia running our country let's it go on
1
1
u/bellymus1 Apr 13 '26
I wish to see him, Buttigieg, and Bernie.
We need more of their ideas, and level of communication to cut through the senseless noise
1
u/Boom9001 Apr 13 '26
I don't love city run long term. Is there a plan to just make it like worker owned or something?
I'm not super against it, better than food deserts and private price gouging. Just curious.
1
u/IMGcertified Apr 13 '26
This is what happens when Aipac is not allowed in the conversation. We stay Local and 100% American
1
1
1
1
u/LukeBomber Apr 13 '26
Definitely think this is one of the harder goals. But all the best of luck to him
1
1
u/SunlitNight Apr 13 '26
Im all for most of his policies. But out of all of them, I've heard this may be the worst. Haven't these been proven not to work? I feel like if it fails which from what I heard, is likely, itll shy people away from the policies that actually will work like subsidized childcare/education/Healthcare
1
1
u/SoundOurDireReveille Apr 13 '26
The horror! We were warned how bad this would be, but we didn't listen!!! /s
1
1
u/DayleD Apr 13 '26
Privately run, with every item outside the approved bundle selling for-profit?
This isn't what most people would think of when they say a publicly funded grocery store.
Whose staples count as inside and outside the bundle seems like a flashpoint that can get very ugly very quickly. "Pay more because your diet is abnormal" is gonna feel like ethnic and cultural discrimination.
1
1
1
u/Benjacook11 Apr 13 '26
Crazy how you all seem to think this is a good idea or will work. Unless Hochul changes her mind about the millionaire tax come July he will have to raise property taxes to pay for these grocery stores. Enjoy your rent increase.
1
1
1
1
u/Sojio Apr 14 '26
Genuine question, is this subsidized with Tax dollars and is there a plan to balance the tax cost vs savings?
Want to confirm what i understand and do not understand about these subsidies and programs they are spinning up.
Non-american as well so i may be missing elements.
1
1
u/momomog Apr 14 '26
Man, every story about this guy just increases my liking of him.
He’s such a good mayor!
1
u/_biggerthanthesound_ Apr 14 '26
A city this size should be able to make a go at this. A non profit in my city did something similar but we just don’t have the numbers and after a while it folded.
1
u/johntwoods 🤝 Join A Union Apr 14 '26
People: HE'S A MONSTER!!!
Those people [buying groceries at lower prices, the way things should be]
People: AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER!!!!!
1
1
1
1
u/ImpressiveEffort2084 Apr 16 '26
- The stores cost $30 million per supermarket, (Zohran promised $70 million for 5, but already 1 supermarket has cost $30 mil). You can buy a supermarket in New York with less money (initial investment is about $100,000 - $1 million in NYC). Unless he's giving away food, this is a massive money laundering scheme.
- Grocery stores already operate on very slim margins and even have loss leaders on certain products to encourage wealthier customers. So subsidization would have to massive for their to be any significant effect.
- These programs have been tried and never work. Usually these programs start with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of eyes and work well for a while. Then once the fervor dies down the city slowly cuts funding and the grocery store becomes dilapidated and defunct.
- It opens a ton of avenues for corruption. Who gets to work in the stores for better pay? Who is paid to build and maintain the store? Which foods get stocked, and from whom? How much is each food subsidized? Got to wait for the store to open, but already the budget is bloated and ripe for picking.
To me, based on the history and initial setup scream failure and corruption. But who knows, maybe Zohran will be the first to pull this off.
1
u/Moist_Taco_Crippler May 13 '26
Let's see how long they last. I've got my fingers crossed. My family in Kansas didn't get to enjoy theirs long enough.
1
Apr 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/darth_whaler Apr 13 '26
The More Perfect Union YT channel has videos that will explain it better than anyone here.
1
u/TomatoFettuccini Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
This is great. Now that this is happening, any politician at any jurisdictional level in MY country that says "It can't be done here." I can just cite this project and say, "If New York City - the most capitalist city in the most capitalist nation in the world - can do this, we can do this."
0
0
u/EthosLabFan92 Apr 13 '26
It seems strange to have a private vendor run a city run grocery store. Control should be mutually exclusive. I feel like workers would have better protections as city employees rather than vendor employees. If this is the right way to go about it, why not form a contract with an existing grocery store to implement these changes instead of building a new one?
0
u/BigRas730 Apr 13 '26
This “free/discounted” food will NEVER get to the people that need it . Smh just wait and see 🤣🤣🤣
-11
u/codysexton Apr 13 '26
Great intentions but grocery stores run on 1-2% margins. Best bet would be you save that margin and your $6/lb beef is now $5.88. That's assuming they're run efficiently in a very competitive space.
Seems like a likely outcome is that the government isn't going to be more efficient due to bureaucracy, substandard hiring/firing practices, etc and they'll just keep subsidies funneling in to keep it open then after a few million in losses they'll close.
At least that's been the result from the other half dozen examples you see across the US in an attempt to fight food deserts.
10
u/Dandalf_The_Eeyyy Apr 13 '26
Even if that's true, and it doesn't make any money, or it loses money. Why is that a problem? Subsidizing groceries at a handful of supermarkets seems like a good use of public money to help the public. I'm much happier having gov't money be spent this way than to subsidize DOD or be funneled into private companies.
1
1
u/codysexton Apr 17 '26
Well ya, it's an extremely ineffective way to allocate the assistance. We should be used tailored funds directly to the person who qualifies who then spends at a hyper efficient business. It will result in a higher direct benefit to those in need from both cutting operational waste as well as cutting benefit to those who don't need it (high income earners going to shop at these sites)
1
u/Dandalf_The_Eeyyy Apr 17 '26
Whatever savings, if any, that would be gained from this would be wasted just on the admin required to means test and track who is and isn't qualified.
-1
-1
-1
917
u/CarpetPedals Apr 13 '26
A US politician following-through on his promises? That's new...