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The latest procurement filing out of City Hall should make every New Yorker who cares about small businesses and plain common sense do a double take. New York City is moving to hand a roughly $75 million, six‑year contract to Mercato to run the Groceries to Go marketplace — even as independent grocers across the five boroughs say Mercato owes them more than $1 million in unpaid bills. If you need a poster child for bad vetting and sloppy oversight, look no further.
City poised to expand Mercato contract while grocers cry foul
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has posted procurement paperwork listing Mercato as the vendor for the city’s subsidized online grocery program, Groceries to Go, with a maximum contract value of about $75 million. That’s a big leap from the company’s prior $30.4 million deal. Meanwhile dozens of neighborhood grocers and the National Supermarket Association say they have been waiting months for payments for produce already delivered. Owners report balances left unpaid since February and, in at least one case, a check only after a threatened lawsuit.
Grocers’ complaints collide with DOHMH and Mercato claims
Store owners named Anthony Diaz, Jorge Guillen, and Aris Duran have all gone public saying Mercato stiffed them. The trade group led by Anthony Peña estimates the total owed to members exceeds $1 million. The Health Department, strangely, says it reviewed fiscal records and that “all invoices from Mercato have been paid on time.” Mercato’s CEO, Bobby Brannigan, reportedly told some merchants the city was late reimbursing Mercato — a claim the DOHMH denies. So we have three competing stories: unpaid grocers, a vendor blaming the city, and the city saying everything is paid. Which one did City Hall think was a good reason to double down?
Comptroller Mark Levine hits the brakes — good
Luckily, Comptroller Mark Levine’s office has paused final approval while it asks “outstanding questions” of the Health Department. That hold is the only responsible thing happening in this saga. The comptroller has not spelled out the questions, but they should include basic and urgent items: show us the city payment ledgers, show us Mercato’s remittance records to merchants, and show us the contract language that protects mom‑and‑pop grocers if the vendor pockets public money without paying suppliers. If the city can’t answer those, the contract should be dead on arrival.
Bottom line: protect taxpayers and small businesses, not risky startups
This is about more than one vendor. It is about whether Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration intends to vet vendors, safeguard public dollars, and protect small businesses that actually do the work in our neighborhoods. Grocers aren’t asking for a handout — they just want to be paid for the deliveries they made. If the city is willing to expand a deal worth tens of millions while merchants cannot get a straight answer, that tells you everything you need to know about priorities. The sensible path is clear: Comptroller Levine should demand the records, the Health Department should explain the discrepancy, and Mercato should be barred from receiving more public funds until every unpaid bill is settled. New Yorkers deserve a city that favors accountability over applause lines and expensive experiments.
