Mayor Mamdani Announces La Marqueta as First Site Identified for City’s Public Grocery Stores

All five sites to open before end of mayoral term; first location to open in 2027 and La Marqueta to open in 2029

NEW YORK – Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, Deputy Mayor Julie Su and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced La Marqueta as the first site identified for the City’s municipal grocery store program.

The 9,000-square-foot store in East Harlem will be constructed from the ground up and is expected to open by 2029. The first City-owned grocery store is expected to open in late 2027. The Mamdani administration plans to open one store in each borough by the end of the Mayor’s first term.

Grocery prices in New York City have risen nearly 66% over the past decade — significantly outpacing the national average. The city-owned grocery initiative is designed to lower costs on everyday staples by using public ownership to eliminate costs that are currently passed on to consumers.

The initiative aims to deliver affordable, high-quality groceries that provide meaningful savings to New Yorkers and strengthen neighborhood food access citywide. Mayor Mamdani has allocated $70 million in capital funds for the development of the five sites.

Under the model, 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.

The administration also announced the creation of an NYC Groceries Task Force led by Deputy Mayor Su and Deputy Mayor Arteaga. The task force will convene City agencies, industry experts and local small business owners to guide implementation.

Located in the heart of East Harlem, La Marqueta is one of six public markets operated by NYCEDC. The site supports more than 20 small businesses and 120 workers, including restaurants, art vendors and community organizations.

Opened in 1936 by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia as the Park Avenue Retail Market, La Marqueta was created to bring East Harlem's pushcart vendors — predominantly Jewish and Italian — under one roof and expand and affordable access to fresh food for working-class New Yorkers. As waves of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, and Mexican immigrants transformed the neighborhood into Spanish Harlem in the decades that followed, the market evolved, becoming “La Marqueta.”

Mayor Mamdani's decision to site New York City's first public grocery store at La Marqueta continues that legacy: using public infrastructure to deliver affordable food to working class New Yorkers.

April 14, 2026