Restaurateur warns NYC food prices will double under Mamdani as he halts three new eateries
Story by Alexa Cimino • 13h
Two of New York City's most influential restaurateurs say they are halting future expansion plans - warning that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's progressive agenda has created a climate of fear that is already driving business out of the city.
Mamdani, 34, is set to become New York's youngest mayor in more than a century - and its first Muslim, South Asian, and African-born leader.
He ran on a Democratic socialist platform that included raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, sparking backlash from some concerned business owners in the city who fear margins are already too tight.
Stratis Morfogen, the veteran entrepreneur behind the newly revived 24-hour hotspot Diner 24, said he raised millions to open three additional diners in 2025 and 2026. But all expansion plans are now on hold.
'I got one open, and that was two years ago,' Morfogen told Daily Mail. 'I raised all the capital, we're ready to go, but I wanted to wait till the election's over. And now? Diner 24 is doing great, but our margins are 10 percent. There's not room for another hit.'
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/restaurateur-warns-nyc-food-prices-will-double-under-mamdani-as-he-halts-three-new-eateries/ar-AA1QoEot?ocid=widgetonlockscreen&cvid=6917119512304947b576f136386b736d&ei=128
