Under newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani’s progressive agenda, many prominent New York restaurateurs warn that the city is heading toward a dramatic spike in food prices. Owners like Stratis Morfogen say that with restaurant profit margins already around 10 percent, proposals such as raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour and eliminating the tip credit would drastically increase operating costs. Morfogen argues that menu items like a $12 hamburger could easily jump to $22 or more just to keep restaurants afloat, especially as rising rent taxes and safety concerns already strain small businesses. He and others say these changes would force them to scale back hours, halt expansion plans, or reconsider doing business in the city at all. Which is highly impactful in an already prominently expensive city.
Another veteran operator Richie Romero, who runs dozens of venues nationwide, echoes those warnings, saying some of Mamdani’s proposed ideas could push employers to close at mass scale, possibly up to 60 percent of restaurants. He argues that these policies would not only raise prices for consumers but diminish earnings for many tipped workers who currently make far above the minimum wage. Both restaurateurs say that, unless Mamdani adjusts course and works closely with small business owners, New York’s hospitality sector will shrink and food prices will surge as restaurants fight to survive under the new economic pressures.
