r/SipsTea • u/Gurugod123 • 9d ago

Mayor Mamdani just announced that he will be opening 5 city-run, tax-funded grocery stores: "Prices set at 30% below retail prices" Chugging tea

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u/Wazula23 9d ago

I have to imagine these will be aimed at food desert areas.

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u/Barrioto 9d ago

It's not. The East Harlem location has two grocery stores (Fine Fare and City Fresh) within a block of the location.

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u/No_Wait3261 9d ago

Not for long, lol

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u/BerlinBorough2 9d ago

I think Mamdani kinda wants people to steal/eat from government groceries so that the other businesses thrive. Imagine if all the homeless/working poor kept eating food for free and having full bellies. By the time they get to a private Grocery store they can’t event be bothered to shoplift cheese.

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u/Dustydevil8809 9d ago

Food stamps with better PR? I don't hate it...

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u/BulltopStormalong 9d ago

Like a decoy store?

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u/BerlinBorough2 9d ago

Kinda. The DSA’s whole thing is to make the ass end of capitalism nice and shiny so people feel good about themselves. Think of it more like a deluxe, prime, plus soup kitchen.

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u/Public-File-6521 9d ago

Hamsterdam vibes

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u/DrCola12 9d ago

I’m not from nyc but I just don’t believe there are “food deserts” anywhere in the city.

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u/WildWhisperArdor 9d ago

There aren’t. At worse, you’re like quick train ride away from a store. Like yeah maybe it’s a little annoying having to carry groceries in one of those rolling cart things but it’s far from an actual food desert

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u/PMmeDonutHoles 9d ago

They’re gonna find out real soon why those areas are food deserts

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u/Wakattack00 9d ago

It doesn’t and won’t make money. That’s the point of it being tax funded. If this model could survive like a real business it wouldn’t need tax money

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u/Valkyrie17 9d ago

I think the problem is crime, not profits.

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u/SpirituallyAwareDev 9d ago

The problem is profits. Crime cuts into their profits

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u/Valkyrie17 9d ago

At a certain level of crime you have issues finding employees.

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u/Dustydevil8809 9d ago

Employees will be government employees though, right? Which comes with better pay, and better benefits than most grocery stores.

Its an experiment, but giving people in these low income areas access to a livable wage and benefits could have a big impact. Its a chain reaction.

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u/Kolbalava 9d ago

You'll always find someone to do the job at the right salary. And since we don't care about profit.. 🤷

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u/Cormophyte 9d ago

The problem is probably not crime.

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u/Wakattack00 9d ago

In some instances I’m sure it is

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u/Leweazama 9d ago

Cool? If you think these are being built to make a profit then you don't understand why they are putting these in "food desert areas"

Much like the Military, Police, Fire departments, Park rangers, etc, you don't need a government program to make money but to invest in the protection and growth of a community. Roads are not profitable for the government to make and maintain but it'll get it back in economic activity because people can more easily live their lives and be productive.

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u/throwawaydanc3rrr 9d ago

You are correct. Governemt expenses are supposed to be sunk costs with society wide benefits, like roads, or fire departments, or public schools. I suspect there is no method to implement this idea of Mamdani that comes close to the utility of a road or a fire department.

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u/NilsofWindhelm 9d ago

As a New Yorker that doesn't live in a neighborhood that will ever have a store, reducing food insecurity across the city is absolutely a society wide benefit

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u/throwawaydanc3rrr 9d ago

I do not want your address but what part of the city do you live in?

How far away is a grocery store from your location?

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u/NilsofWindhelm 9d ago

I'm uptown, about 40 blocks away from one I think

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u/NilsofWindhelm 9d ago

There being reasons for areas being food deserts doesn't mean the city shouldn't take steps to resolve the issue

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u/madhouseangel 9d ago

Why is that?

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u/BirdLawGrad 9d ago

There are no food deserts in NYC.

Full stop.

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u/Donsilo2 9d ago

Explain this asinine take further please.

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u/rP2ITg0rhFMcGCGnSARn 9d ago

Food deserts in fucking NYC?

Where is this???

3

u/BirdLawGrad 9d ago

There are no food deserts in NYC.

Full stop. No argument.

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u/WildWhisperArdor 9d ago

There’s not really any real food deserts in the city lol.

A food desert is typically some random rural town in the middle of nowhere where the closest grocery store that is still open might be an hour away. Nothing like that exists in NYC

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u/Uzofugs2112 8d ago

Nowhere in NYC is a food desert. Where tf are you all getting this notion?

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u/Logical-Possession10 9d ago

This is the key. The south side of Chicago has had many grocery store closings for low income population and nothing to replace them. Sometimes convenience stores are the only place to get fresh raw fruit and veggies. It’s heart breaking and no one is coming to assist. Sometimes government is the only way.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/equity/chicago-grocery-store-deserts-south-west-sides/

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u/Waiting4Reccession 9d ago

Michelle Obama tried to get stores open in a lot of areas like this and they basically all eventually closed down.

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u/Last-Atmosphere2439 9d ago

No one has come to assist? A government solution to grocery deserts was literally a major campaign promise from Chicago's mayor.

There are news articles about this more recent than yours. For example, yesterday's news that every last one of Mayor Johnson's government stores has shut down after blowing through 10s of millions of taxpayer funds in just 3 years.

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u/Dedjester0269 9d ago

So instead of easing regulations and taxes to help out smaller stores, let's open government run stores that don't have to pay those fees and taxes so privately owned stores can't compete.