Can Mamdani’s plan for city-run stores deliver cheap food for New Yorkers?

Food costs have soared but existing businesses fear unfair competition and programs elsewhere yielded mixed results

Carlos Collado, a Dominican immigrant who owns five independent grocery stores in the Bronx and Manhattan, has succeeded over the last three decades despite obstacles that he blames on local and state governance.

His stores have faced an increase in shoplifting, he said. The city has provided tax benefits to big corporations that opened grocery stores and took business away from his.