NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Confirms ID Will Be Required to Buy City-Owned Groceries, Sparking Backlash

More information regarding how New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani‘s city-owned grocery stores will operate has been revealed.

Mamdani, 34, has revealed that ID will be required at city-owned grocery stores to prevent non-residents from accessing discounted food, according to a press conference posted on YouTube by his office on Monday, July 27.

As Globe previously reported, in Mamdani’s plans for the five new municipal grocery stores posted on the NYC.gov website, he shared that “a core basket of everyday groceries will be 30 percent cheaper” than regular grocery stores.

A reporter asked the mayor, “How are you going to keep people from taking advantage of that deal, basically? And is there going to be a limit on the number of items that someone can take that are discounted at that level from that essential basket?”

The politician explained, “So our RFP (Request for Proposal) makes very clear this is a program for New Yorkers to be able to put food on the table, not a program for people to be able to make a quick buck through reselling.”

Intrem, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation, Jeanny Pak, weighed in during the press conference.

“We are looking to make sure that we target New Yorkers, whether it be a sort of a library card-esque thing, and also we manage who’s buying and that it’s focused on everyday New Yorkers,” Pak stated. “So we are mindful of that, and so we’re gonna make sure that we have all the things in place to ensure that does not happen.”

On Monday, August 3, the X account Polymarket shared the ID news, and people took to the comment section in frustration.

Republican senator from Kentucky Rand Paul commented, “… there’s a lot to unpack here.”

“show ID to get food, don’t show ID to vote…how does this makes sense?!?!?!” one user wrote.

“How are citizen’s without ID supposed to get food?” another person questioned.