The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Opportunity Tour, a national bus tour promoting free enterprise, stopped in East Harlem on Sept. 22 outside 103 Deli & Grocery, where Chamber officials argued that city-owned grocery stores pose a threat to small businesses.
Neil Bradley, EVP and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber, was joined by store owner Pharsu Ram Panthi and Mark Jaffe, general counsel of the Multicultural Business Coalition and president of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, outside the bodega at 148 E. 103rd St.
The stop came as New York City moves ahead with plans for municipally owned grocery stores. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said each borough will get a city-run store, a plan the administration frames as an answer to food affordability and access. Opponents, including the Chamber and bodega and independent grocery advocates, contend government-owned stores would compete unfairly with the small, often immigrant-owned businesses already serving those neighborhoods.
Six-week national tour
The Opportunity Tour is part of the U.S. Chamber’s New Fight for Free Enterprise initiative, a multi-year effort to defend and promote free enterprise. Over six weeks, the Free Enterprise Express bus is visiting businesses in key states in partnership with state and local chamber members, aiming to drive debate about what it takes for people, businesses and communities to thrive.