Immigrant business owners threaten lawsuit over Mamdani grocery stores

Several immigrant business owners are preparing to sue New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his plan for city-owned grocery stores, Fox News Digital confirmed on Wednesday.

The New York Post first reported on Tuesday that the Multicultural Business Coalition’s (MBC) board voted to file a lawsuit against the city over Mamdani’s plan to open five taxpayer-funded grocery stores that will sell food at prices up to 30% below traditional retailers.

According to MBC Chairman Frank Garcia, the MBC is now planning to send a letter to Mamdani’s office in the coming days detailing its upcoming legal plans to protect competing stores, bodegas and other small businesses. If Mamdani does not respond or meet with the organization within the next three weeks, the group plans to take further legal action.

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The Multicultural Business Coalition announced efforts to take legal action against New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s taxpayer-funded grocery stores. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“The [New York City] commissioner said this administration is open to speak to everybody, and they want to hear from everybody,” Garcia said to Fox News Digital. “So I’ve been waiting for a meeting for a couple of months. Why aren’t they having me?”

He added, “We are ready to file the lawsuit if the mayor doesn’t meet with us.”

Garcia also emphasized that the lawsuit is a nonpartisan initiative and is primarily focused on raising awareness for small business owners struggling with rising costs in New York City. Though the lawsuit has not yet been filed, he said that his lawyers will be “ready to go” after the three-week deadline thanks to broad support from other organizations.

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New York City bodega and business owners expressed concerns over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s grocery store initiative. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images ; Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

“We’re nonpartisan. So we’re going to meet everybody, Republican or Democrat. There was a Democratic Jewish organization. There were others that we’re gonna meet with [along with] civil rights organizations. We’re gonna be with all the different civil rights organizations that are willing to support this and have the funding already to fund this,” Garcia said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.

The MBC, which was founded earlier this year to oppose Mamdani’s grocery store initiative, is composed of members from African, Asian, Caribbean, Hispanic, Jewish and Middle Eastern business communities. The organization has also received widespread support from city and state lawmakers such as New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also faced legal backlash from landlords over his endorsed rent freeze. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The announcement of a lawsuit came after Mamdani unveiled more details about his city-backed grocery stores, which faced renewed criticism as a “communist fantasy.”

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Mamdani also faces a lawsuit from New York City landlords hoping to overturn the city’s rent freeze.