New York City bodega owners and independent grocers say they remain skeptical of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plan to open city-owned supermarkets.

The New York Post reported that recent meetings with administration representatives have done little to address concerns about how the city-managed stores might affect existing businesses.

Representatives of the city's roughly 13,000 bodegas met last week with Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su and representatives from several city agencies for what the administration described as a roundtable discussion.

According to people familiar with the meeting, city representatives asked questions about which products sell the most and where profit margins are highest, prompting some attendees to decline to answer.

"They wanted us to share proprietary information with them, but they don't answer our questions, and that's why there is distrust," one bodega representative told the Post.

Business owners said the outreach came only after the administration announced plans to build a $30 million public grocery store in East Harlem, with additional city-owned and managed supermarkets planned for all five boroughs.

The administration has said the stores are intended to improve food access rather than compete directly with existing businesses.

"We met with bodega owners so they could help us plan and ensure that we take into account their challenges and their role as a part of the food ecosystem," Su said in a statement to the Post.

"One of the questions we wanted to understand is whether there are key products bodegas sell and rely on that we should not sell,” she said. "That's how serious we are about not undercutting them."

Independent grocers say they still need details explaining how city-owned stores will avoid competing with businesses that typically operate on 2% to 3% profit margins.

One proposal under consideration would exclude deli counters from the public supermarkets, according to Cathy Nonas, executive director of Meals for Good and a former senior food policy adviser for the city's Department of Health.

"That's a plan on the table," Nonas said, adding the city "wants to make sure that those who have served the community are still thriving after the public markets open."

At a June City Council hearing, interim New York City Economic Development Corp. CEO Jeanny Pak said the city had reached out to nearby business owners and hoped to support, rather than compete with, existing bodegas.

Former Morton Williams co-owner Avi Kaner said business owners first need greater transparency from the city.

"I don't think the questions themselves are unreasonable," Kaner said. "I think they are premature. The city should first provide transparency."

A food policy expert who requested anonymity also questioned the Mamdani administration's approach, telling the Post, "It seems like a clumsy, one-sided fishing expedition."