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Home – Zohran Mamdani News – Mamdani Backtracks on IDs for Marxist Marts

Mamdani Backtracks on IDs for Marxist Marts

Nicole Huyer | Christopher Lynch

New York City’s Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani is on a crusade for government control in his latest push for government-run grocery stores. Such stores have been attempted and failed before, and no amount of government subsidization will change the fact that these Marxist Marts are a taxpayer-financed disaster.

Like any public program, they will suffer from the DMV-ification of government bureaucracy: long lines, poor service, and high operating costs. The Comrades maintain that government grocery stores just “haven’t been implemented correctly before,” but economic incentives explain just how a public option pushes out local competition and wastes taxpayer dollars.

On August 3, the Mamdani administration proposed a short-lasting rule to ensure that New York City residents—not out-of-towners looking to access subsidized groceries—would be the only ones bleeding the program dry. It appeared rather novel: requiring identification to shop.

Only when a socialist mayor seeks to ensure that his budget-busting city-operated grocery stores are secure does identification get proposed.

This move was immediately flagged by conservatives who called out the mayor for blatant hypocrisy. The Democratic Socialists of America, of which Mamdani is a member, staunchly oppose voter ID. Yet, for some government functions—including compensation for shoveling snow or for shopping at Marxist Marts—they were a must-have.

Political pushback changed the Mamdani administration’s tune. Within a day, ID is no longer required to shop at the city’s government grocery........

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