New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks July 28 in New York City. A group filed two lawsuits Monday in state court against Mamdani's plan for five city-run grocery stores. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A group of grocers filed two lawsuits Monday over New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plan to open five city-run grocery stores, saying it would harm neighborhood supermarkets.
The Multicultural Business Coalition, an organization that says it represents owners of smaller stores, said in the filings that the city would violate business owners' civil rights if the new stores open and that officials did not study how the planned stores would affect existing businesses.
Kenneth Roldan, the president of the coalition, said the plan would have a "devastating" effect on small grocery stores. He called it "a direct assault on minority business," The New York Times reported.
Mamdani said at a news conference Monday that the new stores are needed to address the high cost of groceries and that they would not offer significant competition in the city.
