Spanish
New York.- The United Bodegas of America Association (UBA) accused this Monday the virtual Democratic candidate for the mayoralty of New York, Zohran Mamdani, of lying to win the past Democratic primaries and in the run-up to the November 4 elections with his proposal for city-run supermarkets, which they believe is unfeasible, as well as "unfair competition" for their businesses.
The UBA (by its English acronym) was represented at a press conference by its president Radhames Rodríguez and its spokesperson and also businessman Fernando Mateo, along with millionaire John Catsimatidis, owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain, -among other businesses- who lashed out at Mamdani, a state assemblyman whom they accuse of being a communist, although ideologically he is closer to social democracy.
Mamdani has proposed creating public supermarkets with products subsidized by the City Council itself, which would thus enter the market at a lower price than the market price.
The shopkeepers said that Mamdani would have to spend taxpayer money to carry out that proposal and recalled that they already pay thousands of dollars in taxes and oppose them being used to compete against their own businesses.
"Everyone loves that (free supermarkets) but that can't be done, it's not real, we won't allow it to happen and the City Government won't allow that to happen," stated an energetic Mateo, who in 2022 aspired to the Republican candidacy for mayor.
"This is not a communist country, it's a capitalist country," also stated the Dominican businessman, who recalled that bodegas are small businesses whose owners fight hard to survive and employ immigrants whose lives would be disrupted by Mamdani's proposal, to whom he spoke directly to tell him not to make false promises to New Yorkers.
They assured, in front of the headquarters of a Gristedes in Manhattan, accompanied by employees of the bodegas and the supermarket, that although the idea may seem attractive, it is based on a fantasy because no mayor has the legal or operational capacity to replace the private company with government control.
"The city can't manage its own agencies, how is it going to manage a business," Mateo stated while Catsimatidis - a Republican who also ran for mayor in the past - angrily stated that "we don't believe in socialists, New York City doesn't believe in socialists, that's garbage."
The businessman has said that if Mamdani wins the elections in November, he will close or sell his chain, made up of about 17 supermarkets across the city.
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For his part, the president of the grocers told EFE that there are about 25,000 bodegas in the city and that 60% of them are in the hands of Latinos who would be harmed if the social democrat's proposal were to become a reality. He also indicated that he met with representatives of supermarket owners - many already in Latin hands - and that they agreed to work together to stop Mamdani.
