New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has secured a 90-day nationwide extension for small retailers to comply with new federal food assistance rules, after personally raising the issue with President Donald Trump.
The agreement gives bodegas and corner shops more time to meet Department of Agriculture requirements introduced last week. The rules require retailers to stock a wider range of products to continue accepting payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP).
Mamdani had warned that the timetable could put more than 10,000 New York bodegas and corner stores at risk of losing access to SNAP, potentially affecting customers who rely on them. He joined a bipartisan letter to agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins calling for the changes to be delayed.
The extension, which begins on Friday, applies to small retailers across the United States. Mamdani said City Hall initially contacted the federal government before he escalated the request directly to Mr Trump.
“What I told the president was that this is a rule that, if allowed to be implemented on the timeline as it was scheduled, would be one that would throw the lives of so many working New Yorkers into a real place of anxiety and chaos,” he said.
“And the president took that concern seriously.”
Mr Mamdani declined to say how frequently he speaks to Mr Trump, telling reporters: “I’ll keep the cadence of that between the two of us.” He said, however, that their conversations were continuing.
The deal is the latest result of an unexpected working relationship between the Democratic mayor and the Republican president, who were once political opponents. Mr Mamdani has generally avoided criticising Mr Trump directly, while seeking his intervention on issues affecting New York.
He previously petitioned the president to release a Columbia University student held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The pair have also discussed federal involvement in a proposed development spanning the Sunnyside Yard rail depot in Queens.
Mr Mamdani has faced questions about the political cost of his approach, but the latest agreement delivers relief for small retailers not only in New York City but throughout the country.
