Multicultural Business Coalition, группа, в которую входят операторы продуктовых магазинов, принадлежащих иммигрантам, подала в суд на Нью-Йорк из-за плана демократического социалиста мэра Зохрана Мамдани открыть несколько государственных продуктовых магазинов в Big Apple, что, как ожидается, сократит прибыль обычных рынков.

"Make no mistake about this plan," заявил президент группы Ken Roldan в заявлении, согласно New York Post. "It is a direct assault on minority business by a mayor who claims to be a champion of disenfranchised poor and working-class New Yorkers."

Судебный процесс, поданный в понедельник в суд штата Нью-Йорк после попыток урегулировать спор во внесудебном порядке, состоит из двух исков. Коллективный иск утверждает, что план противоречит законам Нью-Йорка о гражданских правах и положению о равной защите Конституции штата и требует судебной защиты и возмещения ущерба. Другой иск требует навсегда заблокировать работу "the municipal grocery stores, in absence of undertaking necessary studies and analysis."

Перед подачей иска коалиция пыталась добиться переговорного урегулирования. "Although we have not heard from you since May 2026, we are open to resolving this matter amicably with more sensible solutions to feed working class people with nutritious essential food items at affordable prices," заявил президент коалиции Kenneth Roldan в письме в City Hall, согласно сообщению New York Post на прошлой неделе.

"We are asking the mayor to avoid litigation to sit down with us," сказал изданию Mark Jaffe, юрисконсульт коалиции и президент Greater New York Chamber of Commerce. "But we have to try to stop this if they won't listen to us."

План продуктовых магазинов был ключевым пунктом программы доступности, с которой Мамдани шёл на выборы в City Hall в 2025 году; она также включала бесплатный проезд на автобусах и заморозку арендной платы. По данным офиса мэра, который объявил сроки earlier this year, первый из пяти запланированных связанных с городом продуктовых магазинов, как ожидается, откроется next year.

В понедельник Мамдани защитил инициативу, заявив, что он "fully confident in both the legality and the importance of our initiative."

"We are talking about a reflection of a cost of living crisis that has seen grocery prices increase by about 30% over the last few years, and we're also talking about delivering five city-run grocery stores in a city of 8.5 million people that has more than a thousand grocery stores," said Mamdani. "And we've seen, in fact, with Essex Street Market in Manhattan, as well as, more Street Market in Brooklyn, a model where the city has subsidized groceries and it has not had a negative effect on bodegas around them or on grocery stores around them."

Under the program's structure, "the City will own the land and cover overhead costs like rent and construction. A private operator, selected through a request for proposals, will manage daily operations and be contractually required to pass savings directly to customers on a core basket of everyday staples," stated an April news release.

Mamdani has claimed that prices for a core basket of grocery items at the government-affiliated stores will be set 30% lower than normal retail prices.

Муниципальные продуктовые магазины остаются редкостью в United States, and existing examples have mostly come from small towns stepping in after private grocers left their communities — Baldwin, Florida, opened one in 2018, and Seaside, California, launched what was described as that state's first city-owned grocery store in 2023.

"This core set of goods will include all fresh produce, meat and seafood along with 20 other essential items like cheese, milk and bread. Here's how it will work: Once a month, our five city-run grocery stores will set prices for this core set of goods at 30% below typical retail prices," he said last month.

The legal fight now proceeds in state court alongside the city's request-for-proposals process for selecting private operators, and the coalition's suits ask a judge to halt the stores before the first location is set to open next year.

FOX Business' Madison Alsworth and Sumner Park contributed to this report.