A prominent Midwest city’s experiment with government-run grocery stores shows what awaits Big Apple residents should Marxist New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani get his way.

KSHB 41 did a segment this week on Sun Fresh Market in Kansas City, Missouri, a city-owned store, exposing the disgusting reality of what happens when you let bureaucrats run a valuable private business.

The City of Kansas City owns the Linwood Shopping Center, where the market is located. Community Builders KC, a nonprofit, runs the grocery store.

Kansas City residents shared several complaints about the store, which opened in 2018, while being interviewed by KSHB 41. They revealed there was almost no produce, a disgusting smell emanating from the store, and people leaving right after entering.

“The smell, it’s just ridiculous,” one shopper, Janine Owens, told the outlet.

“I watch people walk in and walk out,” said Pat Clarke, a community advocate.

Owens also expressed bewilderment at why there was no food.

“Where’s the money at?” she complained. “Where’s the produce, where’s the salads… where’s everything at?”

There is even more awful news. Several customers also revealed that the store is being plagued by drug dealing, shoplifting, and vagrancy.

“Customers say they are increasingly afraid to shop there — even with visible police patrols — because of drug dealing, theft, and vagrancy both inside and outside the store and the public library across the street,” the Washington Post reported.

Due to these factors, it’s no wonder Sun Fresh Market is now on the verge of closing despite receiving millions in taxpayer funding.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas’s office sent a canned statement in response to KSHB 41’s inquiry regarding whether the city should throw more money at the problem (as if that will work):

“Mayor Lucas and Kansas City remain deeply committed to access to healthy food on the Prospect corridor. The City will work closely with store ownership and all neighborhood stakeholders to support the long-term viability of the store based on normal revenues from customers and area consumers.”

A better idea would be to shut the disgusting store down and use tax incentives to lure private grocery stores to east Kansas City. This would ensure the stocks are full, and Kansas City residents can actually look forward to a clean store.

But this will likely require a change in government leadership first. Will residents be willing to give Republicans or more sane Democrats a chance?

1 minute video of the store at TheGatewayPundit . com