Draft idea? A pilot program for five municipally owned grocery stores (one each in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island).
The stores would be 'built' on city-owned land, targeting areas like public housing projects....where residents face limited access to affordable, fresh groceries. It has NOT been explained why they can't operate out of current buildings, and no one seems to explain the 3-plus year process of getting permits, or building.
Estimated startup cost is $60 million, funded by redirecting $140 million in existing tax breaks for private grocers and raising corporate taxes to match New Jersey's 11.5% rate. To be honest here....if you have to start from scratch....I think the startup amount is probably triple the $60-M.
From what I can figure....reading through the material....there are two key advantages: First....the city would purchase directly from wholesalers and farmers at bulk rates, bypassing middlemen. Second, emphasis on essentials (dairy, produce, grains).
I might add here.....they claim....zero ads or fancy packaging, which means lower costs passed to shoppers.
My gut feeling? The city will give the guy enough for one single store to be put up. I don't think you will see the store in 2026, or 2027....over construction issues. Nowhere in the 'chatter'....do they discuss the matter of theft-control or guards....which seems odd.
In some ways....they seem to want it to function like a military commissary. The key cheapness plus of a commissary.....the utilities, management cost, and salaries o all employees....is a gov't thing. Commissaries are set to profit by 5-percent.
1 comment:
"Help the needy!" is merely the 'diversion' statement to initiate and encourage the marks* to argue about the impossibility of success.
Who benefits, follow the money.
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footnotes:
* The term 'mark' refers to the victim of a grift.
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