NYC Mayor Mamdani Reverses Classic Reagan Dictum

By
Billy Costigan
-

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is once again leaning heavily into big-government populism — and this time he used Ronald Reagan as the foil.

During a Monday press conference announcing the opening of another city-run grocery store in the Bronx, Mamdani took direct aim at Reagan’s famous warning about government overreach: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

Mamdani dismissed the quote outright.

“I think nine more terrifying words are actually, ‘I worked all day and can’t feed my family,’” the mayor said as he promoted his administration’s plan to open five taxpayer-backed grocery stores across New York City.

The mayor framed the project as proof that government can improve ordinary people’s lives by lowering food prices and expanding access to affordable groceries in struggling neighborhoods.

“Government can be a force for good,” Mamdani declared. “Government can drive change that improves people’s lives.”

The new Bronx store, scheduled to open next year, will reportedly span 20,000 square feet and sit within the Peninsula development, a project expected to contain hundreds of affordable housing units.


Mamdani also attempted to wrap the announcement in symbolism, noting the site was once associated with abuse and failure before being transformed into what he described as a community-focused development.

But critics argue the mayor’s speech unintentionally reinforced Reagan’s original warning rather than disproving it.

Because while Mamdani blamed economic hardship on market failures, opponents point out that many of the very struggles he described — soaring living costs, shrinking wages, crushing taxes, and dependence on government assistance — are problems heavily shaped by government policy itself.

The reality many working families face today did not emerge in a vacuum.

Government taxes take a significant portion of workers’ paychecks before families ever see their earnings. Inflation — driven in large part by federal spending and monetary policy — has dramatically increased food prices over the past several years. Layers of regulations, licensing rules, labor mandates, and compliance costs also contribute to making basic goods and services more expensive.

Critics further argue that decades of welfare expansion created systems that trap many families in long-term dependence rather than helping them achieve economic mobility.

So when Mamdani says government must now step in to solve affordability problems, conservatives argue government intervention is precisely what helped create the affordability crisis in the first place.

The mayor’s grocery-store plan is already drawing criticism from economists and policy analysts.

Daniel Di Martino, a Manhattan Institute fellow who grew up under socialism in Venezuela, warned that government-run grocery stores are often inefficient, costly, and damaging to small private businesses already operating in local communities.


According to Di Martino, these stores could cost taxpayers roughly ten times more to open than privately operated grocery stores while simultaneously undercutting independent neighborhood grocers trying to survive in an already difficult economy.

Critics also question how long such stores can remain financially sustainable without constant taxpayer subsidies.

Government-run businesses frequently operate under very different economic conditions than private companies because losses can simply be absorbed through additional public spending rather than market discipline.

That concern is particularly sensitive in New York City, where residents already face some of the highest taxes, rents, utility costs, and living expenses in the country.

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