Mamdani confronted on failed city-run grocery store attempt in Kansas City, claims his plan will work

"There's another example in Kansas City, where they had a government-run grocery store, and it's been there for years, but it's [closed] because it doesn't work. They've been riddled with crime. They've dealt with just a lack of inventory. There are other examples where it just hasn't worked because, frankly, the government is not that good at being in the business of being in grocery stores. So what do you say to that example?" CNN host Abby Phillip asked Mamdani.

"I say to that example, as well as the examples of our own failures, city government right here in New York City, that we have to prove not only the efficacy but the excellence of this idea. Because for every one example that you can point to, there's another of another municipality today considering opening a city-run grocery store. But to me, the most important thing is the outcome. This is something I believe will work. We will bring the best and the brightest to deliver it, and it will be five stores at the cost of $60 million, which is less than half the city's already spending on subsidizing corporate supermarkets," Mamdani said.

The city purchased the Linwood Shopping Center, where Sun Fresh operated, in 2016 and opened the grocery store in 2018 in an effort to provide more options for residents. Kansas City spent more than $17 million in taxpayer money acquiring and renovating the Sun Fresh market.

Phillip also asked Mamdani to explain how his plan would actually work. 

"There are more than a thousand grocery stores in New York City. I'm proposing creating five additional ones, one in each borough of New York City, that the city would run and that would guarantee cheaper groceries-not free food, but cheaper groceries," he said. 

Mamdani argued groceries were too expensive and said they are a necessity for New Yorkers.

"And we can see the promise and the possibility of a public option. And we've seen in studies that have been done about the applicability of this in an urban setting like Chicago, that this is something we could actually deliver right here in New York City," he said. 

Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.