Mamdani’s Proposal
Zohran Mamdani proposes city-run grocery stores in some of New York’s “food desert” neighborhoods. It’s a great idea that could produce a lot of extra benefits for the city and the business community.
I ran across this issue as a planner in Sacramento, when we were looking at attracting a grocery chain to the redevelopment area at Mather Field, a former airbase. A marketing manager for a regional grocery chain took me aside and confided that, while I was right that the homeownership and median income levels around that area were “good”, there were not enough “rooftops” within driving distance to support a full grocery. I replied that we wanted the grocery at that location because it was next to the light rail and would attract many lower-income customers from neighboring light rail stations. He looked at me for a moment and said, “but we finance each new store, and the model we have to use to satisfy the bank is based on rooftops and parking. The light rail users would be gravy if they turned up but we don’t get credit for that with our financing.”
Food deserts exist in part as a result of old redlining practices, but also as a result of slim margins in the grocery business. While I doubt that financial models for NYC are as wedded to cars and parking as they are in suburbs, I am sure that they include land values in their models. A quarter-acre lot in Brooklyn could cost over $9 million. A tenth of an acre in Buffalo might cost $25-50,000. But you can’t build a grocery store with parking on a tenth of an acre.
Still, my point is that you need enough people (rooftops) to shop at the grocery store to pay the debt service on the real estate. But because of redlining, there is no modeling data that can project success because there are no comparable projects to analyze. It’s a “chicken and egg” conundrum. Washington DC handled it by subsidizing the land cost for a multistory, mixed use development two blocks from Pennsylvania Avenue. The development was required to make some of the apartments available to median income families. Their fittings were mid-grade and they paid for parking if they used it, but the rent was affordable. The ground floor includes a performing arts space, restaurant and retail.
It would not be difficult to identify candidate properties in Brooklyn or the Bronx that have been underused because the economics were not there to support the land values. The owner may be holding the property because they’re only paying property taxes on it, but without a viable prospect they can’t get financing to redevelop or even to change the property’s use. But if the city facilitates a change in use, commits to a revenue for a time certain (that is, providing cash flow for the financing model), and stands up a full grocery, it can act as an anchor for other business activity in the surrounding area.
When you search for a grocery store in Mott Haven, in the Bronx, your closest is in Harlem, across the river. And yet there are two subway stations that serve the area of about 2,000 households. The neighborhood has a high walkability and transit score, and an existing “Food Corp.” at E. 138th & Cypress. But a 7-11 size store selling beer, deli, and assorted snacks is not a full service Safeway or Wegmans, which would offer fresh produce, organic foods, and a broader selection of canned and frozen foods.
This has been my long way of countering the mistaken characterization of Zohran Mamdani as a Communist. His proposal is far from it. I would guess that the Chamber of Commerce will support it for its potential to revitalize neighborhoods that development has passed by. Those who have managed to profit by the lack of competition will resent Mr. Mamdani’s idea, but at some point the harmful effects of redlining and “the way we’ve always done it” have to be reversed. Healthy food at reasonable prices leads to better community health (lower medical and societal costs) and a little less pressure on the family budget. In 2024 the median household income was $49,036. That’s in the lower 26 percent of median income for population areas of 5,000 or more. They could use a little help with lowering their grocery costs, a task 47 has lied about tackling on day one.