At last, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unveiled his plans for city-operated grocery stores in New York. Today, I am proud to announce a collection of essential staples that will be predictably 30% cheaper at all five of our city-run grocery stores. This core set of goods will include all fresh produce, meat, and seafood, along with 20 other essential items like cheese, milk, and bread. Here’s how it will work. Once a month, our five city-run grocery stores will set prices for this core set of goods at 30% below typical retail prices. No exceptions, no gimmicks. The savings will last for the entire month. That means no weekly fluctuations or sticker shock at the checkout line—not for our seniors living on fixed incomes, nor for the parents who rely on a regular supply of apple slices to keep toddler tantrums at bay. In short, the city will use public funds to subsidize five stores to sell goods well below market prices. A small-scale endeavor. But will the effects be positive or negative? An obvious problem is that these stores will make life harder for existing bodegas and grocers. How can you stay in business if the city is using tax dollars to beat your prices? Mamdani’s solution is to limit his stores’ wares to a handful of staples—no alcohol, cigarettes, hot food, or scratch-offs. We are not looking to compete with bodegas or grocery stores when it comes to their ability to survive. What we’re looking to do is to provide affordability that is guaranteed to New Yorkers. But it doesn’t matter what the city is “looking” to do. What matters is the outcome, which is not hard to predict given basic economic principles. Any nearby stores that rely on selling staples to survive will die out, because they can’t possibly compete with a subsidized alternative that uses public funds to undercut their prices. It bears repeating: Mamdani’s stores are not just cutting their prices by being efficient or innovative. They are designed to systematically undercut the competition’s...