The rise of Communist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in New York City has sent shivers down the spines of some residents, who fear his radical ambitions might just reshape the city’s landscape into something unrecognizable. Fortunately for them, his plans may be derailed by his own miscalculations.
A recent analysis has unveiled a rather comical blunder in Mamdani’s strategy to fund one of his flagship proposals: the establishment of five government-run grocery stores. He believes this initiative will be a panacea for soaring food prices, despite previous attempts at similar ventures ending in spectacular failure.
In his infinite wisdom, Mamdani posits that since the city currently allocates $140 million in subsidies to private grocery outlets, he can siphon nearly half of that amount (about $60 million) to realize his grocery store dream.
“We will redirect city funds from corporate supermarkets to city-owned grocery stores whose mission is lower prices, not price-gouging,” Mamdani confidently asserts in one of his videos.
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However, as Tim Carney from the Washington Examiner points out, Mamdani’s grasp on fiscal reality seems tenuous at best. The funding he intends to utilize for his city-owned grocery stores—surprise, surprise—does not actually exist.
Carney referenced information from the city’s Economic Development Corporation, which makes it clear that the $140 million in question is actually private investment, courtesy of a city initiative dubbed FRESH (Food Retail Expansion to Support Health).
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It’s a simple enough concept that even a child could grasp: this is private funding. Yet, in a twist that feels almost surreal, Mamdani appears to have interpreted this information as public funding. In essence, he mistakenly counts private investment as government expenditure.
Such a foundational misreading raises questions about his understanding of fiscal policy and governance. It’s a classic case of someone aiming for the stars but tripping over their own shoelaces.
