Josefina Aguirre grew up among the pinatas hanging from the ceiling of Little Mexico Meat Grocery. The store, located in El Barrio in New York City, was opened by her parents in 1997, just three years after her father crossed the border from Mexico to the United States at the age of 17.
Aguirre holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, a degree her parents insisted she acquire. However, she ultimately returned to work in the family store, facing the same three refrigerators filled with fresh cheese and cilantro, shelves stocked with Mexican chili peppers and tomatoes, and loyal customers who still come in asking her to read their mail in English.
The store has weathered competition from a nearby Costco and barely survived the global pandemic of COVID-19. Aguirre’s father, infected with the virus, passed away without enjoying the retirement he had hoped for after 28 years of hard work.
Aguirre and her sisters now run the grocery store together, preparing to face what they see as their biggest threat yet: a government-subsidized grocery store. This new store can sell a $10 steak for $7 because, unlike Aguirre’s family business, it doesn’t need to make a profit to stay afloat.
Standing behind the counter of her family’s grocery store in El Barrio on August 29th, Aguirre told The Epoch Times, “We are not afraid of competition. We simply want fair competition.”
Several blocks south, Yessica Lezama heard the same concerns from her parents, who immigrated from Mexico 25 years ago and opened El Pueblo Mexicano Grocery on 3rd Avenue. Lezama, 38, has been working alongside her parents for three years, serving the same customers and arranging fruits, vegetables, and Mexican products on the same shelves.
“I believe this will have a negative impact on our sales,” Lezama expressed her concerns about the city’s grocery store plan. “Because we are a Mexican store, the city-operated store won’t sell the exact same goods, but it still hurts us.”
Neighboring businesses have formed an informal network to share information and support each other. As the plan progresses, they hold regular meetings to discuss strategies they can adopt.
“We help each other out,” Lezama said. “The situation is already tough enough. We don’t get much help, and we’re worried about closing down.”
Her parents are looking beyond just maintaining the business. They are working with a small business association to modernize the store.
“My parents need help to make the store look more attractive,” she said.
The Multicultural Business Coalition (MBC) represents about 1,000 grocery stores, delis, and supermarkets operated by minorities. The alliance is currently representing hundreds of small business owners in two lawsuits against New York City, including Aguirre as one of the store owners. They believe that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to open city-operated grocery stores will bankrupt their businesses instead of helping their community.
The lawsuits, filed on August 24th in the New York County Supreme Court, allege that the city government violates antitrust laws and engages in predatory pricing by opening city-operated grocery stores. The second lawsuit further accuses the city of retaliating against them after MBC members organized against the mayor’s plan.
These legal challenges mark one of the most direct challenges to Mamdani’s signature policy in his first year in office.
The first lawsuit states, “The defendants’ municipal grocery stores deprive the collective plaintiffs – hundreds of grocery store owners, many of them small operators – of equal protection under the laws in New York due to their inability to provide discounts significantly different from the globalist business model.”
The second lawsuit argues, “The establishment of these municipal grocery stores stands in stark contrast to the city’s long-standing refusal to allow Walmart to operate grocery stores within its jurisdiction: permitting the retail giant to operate deep discount operations, while it would bring ‘affordable prices,’ enrich a multi-billion-dollar corporation, and take incalculable opportunities away from minority and small businesses.”
Mamdani responded on the day the lawsuits were filed.
“I stand confident in the legality of this measure—it will stand up in court—and I stand confident in the importance of enacting this measure,” he said at a news conference on August 24th.
Frank Garcia, chairman of the MBC and head of the New York State Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, said the mayor’s confidence overlooks the real risks faced by MBC members.
“My grandfather opened one of the earliest grocery stores in East Harlem in the late 1960s during a tumultuous time,” Garcia told The Epoch Times. “To carry on his legacy is something that I take pride in. And what Mayor Mamdani is doing now is tarnishing his reputation.”
The plan was first announced last year. Under the plan, New York City will spend $70 million to open five public grocery stores, one in each borough. These stores will provide essential goods at prices about 30% lower than market prices.
The stores are designed to be price-maintaining rather than profit-making, and will not sell beer, tobacco, or lottery tickets. Mamdani stated that the aim of the plan is to allow residents in underserved communities with high poverty rates easier access to groceries at more affordable prices.
The store in the Hunts Point Economic Low- to Medium-Income Housing Community in the Bronx is expected to open in 2027. The store in El Barrio will be located in the 9,000-square-foot La Marqueta and is slated to open in 2029, according to city officials.
Mamdani has defended the initiative multiple times.
“I am confident in the legality and importance of our initiative, which seeks to open a city-operated grocery store in each borough for residents,” he said in a statement released in July. He also mentioned that food grocery prices in New York City have risen by about 30% in recent years, and the city can ease regulations to help existing store owners.
Garcia stated that before filing the lawsuits, the MBC had attempted to meet with Mayor Mamdani multiple times but without success. He also criticized the city for pushing ahead with the plan without conducting an economic impact assessment.
“Why target immigrant business owners who don’t speak English and can’t defend themselves?” Garcia said. “I believe the mayor’s actions are unjust.”
Mark Jaffe, general counsel of the MBC and chairman of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, told The Epoch Times that the city’s plan is more extreme than officials admit.
“Their plan ultimately bankrupts all independent store owners,” Jaffe stated. “If you’re lucky, they might offer you a job.”
He raised doubts about how the city-operated grocery stores would actually operate when pressed for details.
“We asked them what their business plan was,” Jaffe said. “They told us, ‘We don’t need a plan because the people we select will be responsible for devising a plan.'”
Jaffe also questioned whether having only one store per borough would genuinely help the people Mamdani claimed it would.
“Who does this benefit?” he said. “Once you’re on the train and have to sit for two hours to get there, you’re actually spending more than you would shopping at a nearby store.”
Economists have differing views on the impact of these lawsuits and the underlying policies on New York City’s food supply chain.
Christian Briggs, a political economic analyst who has advised congresspeople, believes that the plan aligns with the broader trend of government expanding into the private market.
“This is a man-made takeover of the food supply system,” Briggs told The Epoch Times, comparing the initiative to what he views as past nationalization attempts by previous administrations.
He pointed out that grocery stores typically operate on slim profit margins of 4% to 5%. Therefore, a competitor subsidized by the government selling goods at a 30% lower price stands as a signal to him that “our country’s food supply chain system is starting to be nationalized.”
Briggs also predicted that despite the legal arguments raised by the MBC, consumer behavior would ultimately lean towards choosing city-operated stores.
“In English, ‘free’ is the most potent word,” he explained, likening this food grocery plan to a long-term welfare project.
“These lawsuits have merit. But ultimately, you can’t beat the word ‘free’ because voters love free things.”
At Little Mexico Meat Grocery, Aguirre finds the numbers both simple and harsh. The money she earns from selling a $10 steak has to cover mortgage, children’s tuition, rent, utilities, and more.
Meanwhile, a government-operated competitor can sell the same steak for $7 without worrying about profit because their funds come from taxpayers, not sales.
“He can afford to stay afloat because he’s using taxpayers’ money. We aren’t getting any help. Loans are very hard to come by now,” Aguirre said.
She and her sisters have quietly begun discussing contingency plans like switching to teaching or other professions, anything to avoid further dismantling the legacy her father built. Every day, she stands behind the cash register – where her father once stood – the sense of loss haunting her every step.
“Is it fair for me to leave and start a new career?” Aguirre asked.
It’s a question she’s not ready to answer. At least not yet.