Claim:
In fall 2025, New York City’s then-mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said his proposed city-run grocery stores would not sell alcohol, cigarettes or lottery tickets.
Rating:
What’s True
Mamdani said in an interview on Nov. 4, 2025, on Hot 97, a New York City-based radio station, that the city-run grocery stores he was proposing would not sell cigarettes or lottery tickets. However …
What’s False
… He said nothing about alcohol. In New York City, grocery stores cannot sell drinks with an alcohol volume higher than 6%. Only specialized liquor stores can sell wine and liquor. Further, many grocery stores in the city do not sell cigarettes or lottery tickets as retailers who offer these must have special licenses. Mamdani added in the interview that the highest source of revenue for the small convenience stores known as bodegas in New York City were cigarettes and lottery tickets, suggesting his proposed stores would not compete with these small businesses.
In November 2025, a rumor began to spread that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani allegedly once said his proposed city-run grocery stores offering more affordable staples would not sell alcohol, cigarettes or lottery tickets because Islam prohibits drinking, smoking and gambling.
For example, a Nov. 4, 2025, Instagram post shared a photograph of Mamdani, making that claim (archived):
The post had gained 26,000 likes as of this writing. The exact same image of Mamdani with the text below appeared several times on Facebook. The text read:
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani’s closing message to New Yorkers and all city run stores and businesses ” City-run grocery stores will not sell cigarettes or lottery tickets – and Absolutely no Alcohol” You have no idea what you ALL have just done
BECAUSE CIGARETTES, GAMBLING AND ALCOHOL ARE NOT ALLOWED IN ISLAM!!
As we will outline below, the claim was a mixture of truth and falsehoods.
Mamdani, who is Muslim, said his proposed stores would not sell cigarettes or lottery tickets, but he did not discuss alcohol. We contacted his campaign to ask what his plans were for in these stores and we will update this report should they respond.
Mamdani said in an interview on Nov. 4, 2025, on Hot 97, a New York City-based radio station, that the city-run grocery stores he was proposing would not sell cigarettes or lottery tickets:
Mamdani added in the interview that the highest source of revenue for the small convenience stores (“bodegas”) that dot New York City are cigarettes and lottery tickets, suggesting his proposed stores would not compete with these small businesses.
“The highest sources of revenue for bodegas in New York City are cigarettes and lotto and we have no interest in selling any of that at a city-run grocery store whose entire purpose is to deliver affordable groceries,” Mamdani said told the radio station.
He was responding to criticism that his proposed city-run stores would compete with bodegas. In other words, the claim that he was trying to impose “Islamic rules” on the city through such stores was fiction.
It is important to note that in New York City, grocery stores cannot sell drinks with an alcohol volume higher than 6%, which can only represent 25% of the store’s inventory. Only specialized liquor stores can sell wine and liquor. To comply with the rule, Mamdani’s proposed stores could not sell these.
In addition, many grocery stores in the city do not sell cigarettes or lottery tickets. Retailers who offer them must have special licenses, and there are strict rules: For example, pharmacies or businesses that contain pharmacies cannot sell cigarettes.
Later in the interview, Mamdani acknowledge the high regulation bodegas face in New York City. “It’s time to actually have a style of politics that speaks of the crisis at hand that says, ‘Look, these same bodegas are facing more regulations than Amazon,'” Mamdani said. “And at the same time as we have to take on corporate greed, we have to also make it easier to keep a small business open in this city.”
United Bodegas of America, a group that defends the interests of bodega owners, endorsed Mamdani days before the election.
