Strapped New Yorkers swarm chaotic Mamdani-inspired free grocery store pop-up: We’re 'in pain’
On Sunday in a busy stretch of restaurants and boutiques in the West Village, hundreds of New Yorkers queued up outside a pop-up shop offering free groceries.
"New Yorkers are in pain," Nick from Queens, New York, one of several people Fox News Digital interviewed outside the pop-up, said as he waited to grab pasta sauce, bath soap and a bag of Tide Pods.
The scene was underscored by the city's cost of living woes and anxiety over who would get a yellow ticket granting entry to the small shop before they "sold out" of goods.
The pop-up was opened Feb. 12 as a five-day store by cryptocurrency-based prediction market Polymarket. It comes as Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani advances a proposal for city-run grocery stores aimed at easing rising food costs and broader affordability pressures.
It was billed as New York City’s first free grocery store, with critics casting it as a stunt riffing on Mamdani’s proposal as the prediction-market company faces heightened scrutiny from regulators in various states, including New York.
Shoppers characterized The Polymarket — which was separate from Mamdani-led efforts to unveil city-owned, subsidized grocery stores in each of the five New York City boroughs — as a learning moment for the mayor as residents cited concerns with security, running out of food and people cutting lines.
The giveaway drew residents from across the five boroughs — some arriving before sunrise, others showing up mid-morning in the hopes of getting a yellow ticket and a spot in the line wrapped around the block.
As the crowd grew, however, so did the tension.
People in line told Fox News Digital Sunday that they were worried they’d made the trip for nothing.
"I literally got here at 9 o’clock … and basically what they said is that they ran out of tickets," a woman named Fatima told Fox News Digital.
Another man, Sherrod from Jamaica, Queens, said the same happened to him.
"They told me that they ran out of tickets," he said. "I couldn’t get no more food. … I couldn’t get access to the store."
Fatima and Sherrod spoke after security guards began pushing people off the block shortly after 9 a.m., when the first batch of tickets was gone. Several shoppers said they were told to leave the area and come back around 1:30 p.m. for another chance — and not to linger on the sidewalk as ticket-holders moved through the store.
"Let's go people, let's go. Go home," one security guard positioned outside The Polymarket was heard shouting to the crowds just after 9 a.m. Sunday. "Do not linger, do not look, do not watch. Please go home."
Shoppers were told the pop-up would open at noon and close at 3 p.m., or until supplies ran out. Ticket-holders were let inside a couple at a time and paired with a staffer to fill a blue tote bag at no cost.
Polymarket funded and operated the pop-up, a company representative told Fox News Digital, and the prediction market also donated $1 million to Food Bank for New York City as part of the effort.
The representative said Polymarket also gave $50 gift cards to some shoppers who ended up in the back of the line and were turned away, in an effort to "be as accommodating as possible."
Some shoppers slammed the setup — and the mad dash for tickets — while early arrivals said security kept the line safe.
"Security's been phenomenal," said Nick, who was fourth in line and received a ticket without problems. "This morning, there was a drunk guy over here harassing a lady. And I was telling him to go. And the head security guy, he saw that we were in trouble, and he did his job and got him out of here. Protecting us."
Another local, Michael, told Fox News Digital: "I've seen a mix of things, like security needs to work on their presentation, dealing with the customers who are of florid backgrounds … because they don't have the customer service expertise."
Michael set up a chair outside the grocery store, and watched shoppers file in and out of the shop all morning, but was not positioned in line. He told Fox News Digital that he only had three cups of soup left in his cupboard but was doubtful there would be enough groceries left at The Polymarket at the end of the day for him to stock up his pantry.
The line drew all walks of life — people on disability, working New Yorkers looking for a financial boost, residents shopping for the homeless, New Yorkers living in shelters, and others who did not speak English.
Brooklynite Sumayah said she visited the pop-up earlier in the week and managed to grab "two dozen eggs and some butter" before items started running out. Out of work for more than two months and currently on disability, she said a free grocery trip could spare her from spending roughly $600 a month on food and household essentials.
Sumayah said the process inside could feel uncomfortable to some, citing shoppers are paired with someone who moved them through the aisles.
"Someone shops with me and I’m kind of uncomfortable with that," she said. "I also understand because sometimes you might have some people that want to overdo it and grab like 10 of something… but the person that I was with, they kind of rushed me through things and I couldn’t get all the stuff that I wanted."
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Even so, Sumayah said her overall experience was "pretty calm and quiet," and called the pop-up "very much needed in New York." She said the turnout alone showed how wide the need spreads — and how quickly word of free groceries travels.
"I even met a woman that came from India yesterday and she was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m in line. I’m coming to get free food,’" Sumayah said. "I’m thinking like, how should I get back on the plane with that?"
Sumayah called on local leaders contemplating installing city-run stores to ensure such shoppers are safe as they wait in line for the goods — including from neighbors unhappy with the lines — while Sherrod called for a potential city-run effort to be better "organized" and "learn from this."
Nick added that such stores should be directly located in impoverished areas and food deserts far from the wealthy streets of Manhattan.
Almost everyone in line — no matter if they got a ticket or not — sounded off that food costs in the city were sky-high, and they needed an assist.
"Shoot, I used to spend on average $300 to $500 on groceries," said Jaquan, who caught the A train to get to the market Sunday morning. "I used live with my mom, so that made it even worse. Right now I'm homeless, I live in a drop-in center."
Another Big Apple resident, Monique, said she spent $200 on groceries "the other day" and "didn’t even get much." Sherrod, who said he has a family of four, put his monthly grocery spending at around $400 to $500 and described the free groceries as a real help.
Nick said choosing to wait for hours to get a ticket was worth it, noting it would save him as other expenses build up.
"I’ve switched to fast food and it’s taking a hit on my health," he said, adding he was already a month behind on his phone bill because grocery costs came first.
For the more than 300 individuals who did get tickets moved through the door, they were thrilled with the haul.
"I got the spaghetti. I got orange juice. I like orange juice," Nick from Queens said after making it through the store. "I also got some ground beef. They had grass-fed ground beef, they had lean ground beef and the regular ground beef so I'm glad I got that. I'm really glad I got the grass-fed."