U.S. Chamber Visits East Harlem Bodega to Highlight Threat of Government-Owned Grocery Stores to Small Businesses

NEW YORK - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Free Enterprise Express Opportunity Tour made a stop today at 103 Deli & Grocery (Perfect Deli), a family-owned bodega in East Harlem, to draw national attention to the threat that government-owned grocery stores, and other socialist ideas, pose to small businesses. The Mayor has proposed government-owned grocery stores that would pay no rent, no property taxes, and no construction expenses while still receiving taxpayer subsidies.

The event brought together U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley, bodega owner Pharsu Ram Panthi, and Mark Jaffe, General Counsel of the Multicultural Business Coalition and President of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce.

"Small bodega and grocery store owners have spent years serving their neighborhood and employing the community. It is beyond outrageous that they will be forced out of business by their own government," Bradley said. "If that happens, all that will be left for local residents is stores where government bureaucrats get to decide what they can buy. This is socialism and it will be a disaster."

Located at 148 E 103rd St in East Harlem, Perfect Deli, which has operated for 16 years, sits just blocks from La Marqueta, the site of one of five planned government-owned grocery stores, a project estimated to cost $30 million for that location alone and part of a broader $70 million initiative.

Bradley added, "In response to the Mayor's request for proposals to manage government grocery stores, the U.S. Chamber will submit recommendations showing how the government can help lower food prices for all New Yorkers by reducing excessive regulation and sky-high taxes, including property taxes that are among the highest in the nation. Free enterprise, not socialism, is the way to lower prices for families."

"You can't claim to support small businesses and bodegas and then use taxpayer dollars to put them out of business. We're glad that the U.S. Chamber was here with us today to shine a light on that contradiction," Jaffe said.

The Opportunity Tour is a part of the U.S. Chamber's New Fight for Free Enterprise initiative, a multi-year strategic effort to defend, protect, and promote free enterprise.

For six weeks, the Free Enterprise Express bus will visit businesses whose ideas, products, and services help make communities stronger, more vibrant, and uniquely their own. The bus is traveling to key states to drive the debate about what it takes for people, businesses, and communities to thrive. It is planned in partnership with state and local chamber members.

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About the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business organization representing companies of all sizes across every sector of the economy. Our members range from the small businesses and local chambers of commerce that line the Main Streets of America to leading industry associations and large corporations. For more than 114 years, we have advocated for pro-business policies that help businesses create jobs and grow our economy.