The Mam-and-pop is a pile of slop.
Big Apple officials took prospective bidders on a pathetic tour Wednesday of a trash-strewn empty lot in East Harlem where Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s planned $30 million city-owned grocery store is supposed to become reality.
The bidders wore hardhats on the city Economic Development Corporation-led tour to the under-the-Metro-North viaduct site next to La Marqueta, despite no work actually being done yet.
They stayed tightlipped about their visit, with one telling The Post they’re not even sure their outfit will submit a bid. Others flat-out declined to comment, leaving the tour’s organizers to hype up the project — while implicitly acknowledging it’s a giant experiment.
“We are very cautiously optimistic about this potential project and what this potential project means to the community and food deserts,” said Phillip Grant, founder and CEO of business consulting firm Phillip Grant & Associates.
“It has to be a full, transparent partnership. We also have to get the public involved. There’s other things we have to think about: market forces, transportation, weather. So we have to ensure whatever model an operator like myself or a group that we put together build, that it can be flexible enough to adapt to those concerns.”
As Grant talked about “food deserts,” he stood a stone’s throw from American Deli Mini Mart along Park Avenue — where owner Elvis Arias, 33, sells sandwiches and worries about losing business to the planned city-owned store.
The new competition from city government is a slap in the face, especially as taxes are so high, Arias said.
City Hall would have to give him a tobacco license to keep the deli competitive, he said.
“I’m lucky I have the beer!” Elvis quipped. “They won’t have beer over there.”
Mamdani promised during his mayoral campaign to open five city-owned supermarkets, one in each borough, that would help bring down the cost of groceries.
Once in office, Mamdani pledged a core basket of staples, not including alcohol, would be sold at a 30% discount — although details remain vague.
The entire project will cost Big Apple taxpayers $70 million to build, with the first store slated to open in The Bronx next year.
The store at La Marqueta — a historic public marketplace — is expected to cost $30 million and open its doors in 2029.
In the meantime, city Economic Development Corporation are soliciting bids — or requests for proposals — from prospective vendors.
One wholesale food distributor who attended a video meeting over the bids noted that the city preferred a vendor that can run the whole shebang.
“When I initially looked into the opportunity, I assumed the scope would be limited to procurement and delivery,” the distributor told The Post Wednesday. “However, the City is requiring a single operator to manage the entire project.”
Waverly Neer, senior vice president of groceries at the project-leading EDC, cast the tour as productive.
“We had community members, we had local organizations, and prospective operators here,” she said. “It’s really reaffirming that people are excited about this opportunity.”
