New York City opens grocery stores to lower food bills

26 May 2026, 11:07 · The Fresno Bee

New York City is an expensive place to live. From sky-high rents to the high cost of living, everything adds up to an individual's monthly budget.

According to an Investopedia report, New York City's Manhattan borough is the most expensive city in the U.S., with its cost of living more than twice the national average.

And not surprisingly, as of 2025, New York City ranked number 1 with the largest population of those experiencing homelessness, a 59.2% increase from 2023-2024, according to US News.

Amid this, buying groceries has become one of the most painful parts of living in New York City. Data from the mayor's office say food at home costs in New York City have risen 66% over the last decade.

And a recent Poverty Tracker report found that food prices in the New York City metro area rose 33% over the last 10 years.

For many families, the problem is not simply that food costs more than it used to. It is that paychecks, benefits, and household budgets are no longer keeping up with the price of everyday essentials.

To address this growing problem, New York City is taking a rare step into the grocery business.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) recently announced the second site in the city's latest municipal grocery store program.

New York City moves into the food business with N.Y.C. Groceries

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, along with NYCEDC, unveiled a new program, N.Y.C. Groceries, last month, designed to lower the cost of everyday groceries and household staples while improving food access in underserved neighborhoods.

The city says it will establish five N.Y.C. Groceries stores, one in each borough, and will prioritize city-owned sites where possible. New York City has committed $70 million in capital funding for store construction.

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"When corporations control every part of the food supply chain, prices go up, basic necessities become luxuries, and workers and customers both lose," said Mayor Mamdani.

The stores will not be directly run like a typical city agency.

Instead, NYCEDC will select experienced third-party grocery operators through a competitive procurement process.

The city says it will set requirements for pricing, affordability, labor standards, operations, and reporting while maintaining public control and transparency around the program's goals.

As a result, the city is promising shoppers lower prices on basic groceries.

N.Y.C. Groceries says its goal is to provide direct relief at the register, expand access to quality groceries in underserved neighborhoods, and encourage price stabilization in the broader grocery market.

"We cannot accept a status quo where even the most fundamental needs - putting food on the table - feel out of reach. This is about ensuring that every New Yorker, regardless of income or ZIP code, has access to fresh, healthy food at a price they can afford," said Mayor Mamdani.

That mission comes at a time when many New Yorkers are already struggling to keep food on the table.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled five new city-owned grocery stores.

Photo by Pacific Press on Getty Images

Food costs are stretching New Yorkers thin

The Poverty Tracker report found that food budget shortfalls have become more common since the Covid pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic, 29% of adult New Yorkers reported needing more money to meet their food needs. That share has since risen to 36%, representing nearly 440,000 additional adults who have faced food budget shortfalls in recent years.

Families with children are facing even more pressure.

In recent years, 42% of families with children reported needing more money to meet their household food needs, up from 34% before the pandemic. That represents more than 70,000 additional families with children experiencing food budget shortfalls.

The amount families need has also grown. Among families with children facing a food budget shortfall, the average weekly gap increased from $171 before the pandemic to $205 in recent years. That is about $820 a month.

These numbers show why grocery prices have become more than a kitchen-table concern. They are now a major affordability issue for the city.

In 2024, 6% of New Yorkers experienced severe food hardship, meaning they often ran out of food or worried food would run out before they had money to buy more. That translated to nearly 550,000 people.

Another 14% of New Yorkers reported using a food pantry in 2024, equal to nearly 1.2 million people.

New York City picks two public grocery store locations

As part of the project, the City has now selected the first two locations, moving the plan closer to becoming a real retail option for shoppers.

The first location will be La Marqueta in East Harlem, a city-owned public market that already supports more than 20 small businesses, including restaurants, art vendors, and community programming.

The market employs about 120 people, and one of its spaces will be used for the N.Y.C. Groceries store. This location, to be built from the ground up, has a $30 million funding allocation for the 9,000-square-foot store.

While this is the first location revealed, it will not be the first to open, as it's expected to debut in 2029.

The second location, a much larger site of 20,000 square feet, will be The Peninsula in Hunts Point, the Bronx, a redevelopment of the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Facility. This is set to open in 2027.

The Peninsula project redevelopment is also expected to include:

740 units of 100% affordable housing
More than 50,000 square feet of new public open space
30,000 square feet of light industrial space
50,000 square feet of community space
20,000 square feet of commercial space that will house the public grocery store

"No family in the Bronx should have to choose between rent and groceries," said Julie Su, deputy mayor for economic justice.

The Mayor's office said more than 77% of households in Hunts Point have relied on public assistance in the last year and struggle to afford basic necessities. This step will bring affordable grocery and living options to relieve the pressure on households.

More N.Y.C. Groceries stores to come

Meanwhile, the City is seeking future sites. NYCEDC has launched a portal for property owners in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island to submit proposals for possible locations.

Eligible sites must include at least 10,000 square feet of retail space to be available on a timeline that supports opening a grocery store by 2029.

This program's success depends on whether these city-owned stores can actually make grocery shopping cheaper for its residents, at a time when wholesale and big retailers including Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, and others already compete heavily on price.

But in New York City, access to these lower-cost outlets is not always simple.

Walmart has no traditional stores in New York City, and many residents have to cross into New Jersey or travel outside their neighborhoods to reach Costco, which is not a realistic option for every household.

This program is trying to address this very visible gap compared with other cities.

New York City is not the first to experiment with a public grocery model. Smaller communities such as Baldwin, Florida, and St. Paul, Kansas, have operated municipality-owned grocery stores before, but they either closed or served smaller populations.

N.Y.C. Groceries is a larger and more high-profile plan with five planned stores, one in each borough, and $70 million in capital funding. It therefore will be judged more on its progress over the years and on its long-term financial viability for the administration.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 4:07 AM.