Cuomo Unveils Plan to Actually Lower Grocery Costs for the New Yorkers Who Need it the Most During Address to the United Bodegas of America
$250m Cuomo Plan Provides Grocery Subsidies to 350k Food Insecure NYers Who Don’t Qualify for SNAP
"We need to deliver help to those who actually need it – not drive private companies out of business and spend taxpayer money subsidizing the wealthy." - Andrew Cuomo
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Andrew M. Cuomo, candidate for the mayor of New York City, detailed his plans to actually lower the costs of groceries for the New Yorkers who need it the most today during a meeting with the United Bodegas of America.
Cuomo detailed his $250 million plan to provide grocery subsidies to the roughly 350,000 New Yorkers who are in need of assistance, but earn just enough to not qualify for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Cuomo contrasted his plan with the unworkable and unrealistic campaign promise from his opponent, Zohran Mamdani, to open Soviet-style government run grocery stores that have not only failed in other localities, but also provide unneeded competition to private businesses like the UBA’s members.
“We need to deliver help to those who actually need it – not drive private companies out of business and spend taxpayer money subsidizing the wealthy,” Governor Cuomo said. “My plan does the first part by targeting assistance to the hardworking New Yorkers who need a leg up. Mamdani’s campaign promise – provided it even works – would do the latter, putting small grocery and convenience stores on an uneven playing field with a government program that has absolutely no income requirements. It's ill conceived, failed everywhere it's been attempted, and hurts small businesses when we should be doing everything we can to help them.”
Nearly 1 in 7 New Yorkers are facing food insecurity. Cuomo’s plan will direct targeted relief to New Yorkers who need the help, but earn just above eligibility (typically 130 percent of the federal poverty level) for SNAP.
To tackle this benefits cliff, Cuomo’s plan will provide eligible New Yorkers making 131 percent of FPL (about $41,800 for a family of four,) with $1,200 a year to offset high grocery costs. The program scales down to $300 a year for those earning 150 percent of FPL ($48,225 for a family of four).
The United Bodegas of America was created in 2018, driven by the urgent need to protect and give a voice to the 20,000 bodegas across New York City.
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