New York’s bodega community erupted in outrage this week after the United Bodegas of America surprised members by endorsing Zohran Mamdani for mayor — a move that prompted the organization’s co-founder to resign in disgust. Fernando Mateo called the endorsement a betrayal of the group’s mission and walked away rather than let a trade association become a pawn for a radical political agenda.
Mateo didn’t mince words, saying the group’s president violated the nonprofit’s neutrality and warning that hundreds of small-business owners were already calling him to complain. He announced plans to hold a press conference to expose what he called a breach of trust by leadership that should be protecting, not politicking for, mom-and-pop stores.
United Bodegas’ president, Radhames Rodriguez, defended the endorsement by praising Mamdani as someone who “understands the struggles of everyday New Yorkers” and touted promises to cut fines and speed up permits. That spin rings hollow to any shopkeeper who’s watched crime, regulations, and taxes eat into already razor-thin margins; endorsements should be earned, not handed out like political favors.
The real flashpoint is Mamdani’s proposal to open city-run grocery stores — a government-subsidized competitor that would have no rent or property taxes and could undercut family-owned bodegas across the five boroughs. Small business owners aren’t political caricatures; they understand math and markets, and they know what happens when government picks winners and losers in retail.
This isn’t happening in a vacuum: Mamdani is openly aligned with democratic socialist ideas and has pulled in union endorsements as his momentum grows, but unions and political movements have never been reliable proxies for the small-business communities they claim to help. New Yorkers who value safe streets and economic independence should be alarmed when a trusted industry group appears to hitch its wagon to a left-wing experiment that could put thousands of immigrants and hard-working shop owners out of business.
Patriots who care about Main Street must hold these organizations accountable and demand leaders who defend small business, law and order, and common-sense economic policy. Voters should remember whose side candidates and so-called endorsements are truly on when the ballots are counted — because at the end of the day, it’s working Americans who pay the price for political theater.
