New York’s Food Desert Map Has Not Changed Significantly in a Decade Despite Multiple Initiatives to Change It
The Supermarket Deserts in the South Bronx, Central Brooklyn, and Northern Manhattan Persist Despite Policy Attention
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
NYC Food Deserts: The Map That Has Not Changed
NEW YORK, NY — The areas of New York City that lack adequate supermarket access — the South Bronx, large portions of Central Brooklyn, Northern Manhattan, southeastern Queens — were identified as food deserts in studies conducted in the early 2010s. Multiple city administrations have launched initiatives to address these gaps: healthy bodegas programmes, mobile markets, community gardens, supermarket development incentive programmes, and most recently the Mamdani-backed La Marqueta city grocery concept. The food desert map in 2026 is recognisably similar to the food desert map in 2014.
The reason the map has not changed significantly despite a decade of policy attention is the economic reason: supermarkets are large-format retail that requires the capital investment, site availability, and revenue projections that the commercial real estate market in food desert neighbourhoods does not reliably produce. A supermarket in the South Bronx requires a site, the capital to build or lease and fit out the space, a supply chain, staff, and the customer volume that covers operating costs and produces a return on the investment. The communities in food deserts are not underserved because no one noticed. They are underserved because the market does not serve them profitably and the policy tools to override the market have been insufficient.
La Marqueta and the Public Grocery Concept
Mamdani’s La Marqueta concept — a city-operated grocery that is not required to produce the commercial returns that private supermarkets require — addresses the market failure directly by removing the profit requirement. The concept is sound. The implementation is in development. The South Bronx has not had a full-service supermarket in certain zip codes since the food desert was first mapped. Mamdani’s war on urban scarcity extends to grocery access; managing market failures in essential goods requires the public provision that the market does not supply. The map exists. The La Marqueta solution is being built. The map should change by 2028. The decade of unchanged map is the policy record that precedes it.
The post New York’s Food Desert Map Has Not Changed Significantly in a Decade Despite Multiple Initiatives to Change It appeared first on SpinTaxi Magazine.
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