New York City got its first free grocery store on Thursday, and yet it does more to discredit self-proclaimed democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani than do him any favors. The store wasn’t launched by the city, but by Polymarket, a private prediction-market company where users bet on world events. More than 400 New Yorkers lined up for free groceries, praising the store as a much-needed relief during challenging financial times.
Forget Mamdani. The private sector is offering free groceries in New York. pic.twitter.com/PnGAXWWp6a
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) February 13, 2026
“Times are hard. Things are very expensive, so this helps,” Tori Hall, who was second in line outside the store, said. “It goes a long way.”
The Polymarket “free” grocery store opened Thursday and will operate as a five-day pop-up through Sunday, with the final day dedicated to donations. They added in a statement that the company had donated $1 million to the Food Bank for NYC “to help fight food insecurity across all five boroughs.”
The initiative follows a similar stunt earlier this month by Kalshi, another prediction-market platform, which offered New Yorkers $50 in free groceries.
Mamdani responded to the latter stunt, posting a headline on X that read: "Heartbreaking: The worst person you know just made a great point."
https://t.co/oXWXiS5kMJ pic.twitter.com/i8YCmIaGLW
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) February 4, 2026
While prediction betting markets have been subject to controversy lately, for possible insider betting, New Yorkers were simply happy for the food, regardless of whether or not it was a publicity stunt.
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“If it is [a publicity stunt] then I got some free food coming out of here...This is exactly what a food bank does,” Hall continued. “I hate going grocery shopping because I’m spending $150 to $200 every time. We just need a helping hand.”
“Groceries cost a lot. It’s terrible,” Dayna V. said. “The eggs right now, it’s $10 and up, so this [free store] is good."
“I love Polymarket!” she added, as she showed off her grocery haul. “I hope they...create more of it, and I hope this is really here to stay in the future.”
The move risks being a blow to Mayor Mamdani, who campaigned on promises to open city-run grocery stores in each borough. Critics have warned that such stores, under socialist management, could suffer from poor service, empty shelves, and high costs to taxpayers. In contrast, the free market has historically proven more efficient at delivering services, including philanthropic efforts.
As Mamdani would likely prefer to forget, some of the largest periods of philanthropy in U.S. history occurred during the so-called “Robber Baron” era, when entrepreneurs like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller directed vast fortunes toward schools, libraries, universities, and medical research.
Andrew Carnegie funded over 2,500 public libraries worldwide, 1,689 of them in the U.S., to promote self-education and social mobility. He also founded Carnegie Mellon University and Carnegie Hall. John D. Rockefeller established the University of Chicago, Spelman College for Black women, and the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now Rockefeller University), while also eradicating hookworm in the South. His Rockefeller Foundation funneled billions, adjusted for inflation, into public health, education, and scientific advancement.
Both men proving that private enterprise can achieve what government and especially what socialism cannot.
Editor’s Note: New York City is now facing the consequences of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist takeover.
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