Key facts
- Mamdani said the 90-day extension starts Friday after his talks with Trump and Brooke Rollins.
- The agriculture department rules required stores to stock seven varieties in each of four staple categories.
- Stores would also have had to offer perishable items in three of the staple food categories.
- Mamdani said more than a million New Yorkers and tens of millions nationwide faced the rule change.
- The Food Research and Action Center said bodegas, convenience stores and small grocers are about 70% of SNAP retailers.
- New York City's planning department counts more than 10,000 bodegas and corner stores across the five boroughs.
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said on November 13, 2026 that he had struck a deal with Donald Trump for a 90-day delay on new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rules for retailers, so that bodegas and corner stores nationwide have time to comply. Mamdani said the extension starts Friday and followed conversations with Trump and agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins.
The guidelines, implemented by the US agriculture department, would have required retailers to comply by November 4. Stores would have had to stock at least seven varieties within each staple food category: dairy, grains, protein and fruits or vegetables. They would also have had to offer perishable items in three of the staple food categories.
Mamdani said at a press conference on Friday that the rules had thrown the lives of "more than a million New Yorkers" and "tens of millions more across America" into "chaos". He said people already facing a shortage of affordable places to buy food, rising costs at the register and food deserts across the five boroughs feared the few places they could shop would no longer accept their benefits.
Several advocates were concerned the rules would leave people relying on SNAP unable to buy groceries at their only accessible store. According to the Food Research and Action Center, bodegas, convenience stores and small grocery stores make up roughly 70% of SNAP retailers. Mamdani said small retailers, given the tight timeframe to adjust their stock, ran the risk of going out of business if they could not accept SNAP benefits.
More than 100 bodega owners reached out to Mamdani's office with concerns about the new rule, and according to the New York City department of city planning there are more than 10,000 bodegas and corner stores across the five boroughs.