On February 12, Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market, opened, claiming to be the first completely free grocery store in New York City.
When the doors opened around 2 p.m., a line stretched four blocks along Seventh Avenue South in the West Village. Shoppers shuffled forward carrying blue Polymarket bags as staff handed out coffee and granola bars.
The pop-up store, called The Polymarket, will be open to the public for four days and will offer staples like milk, eggs, bread and produce as well as familiar branded snacks – with no payment, no income verification and no purchase limits.
Polymarket is a company that allows users to use cryptocurrencies to bet on the likelihood of future events, from elections and economic data to sports tournaments and geopolitical outcomes. The platform has attracted attention for its ability to generate huge payouts related to real-world crises, although backers believe it offers a novel way to aggregate public sentiment.
According to an announcement posted on the company’s Substack, the opening includes a $1 million donation to the Food Bank For NYC, which serves food-insecure families in all five boroughs(1).
“We are open to all New Yorkers. A real, tangible investment in our communities,” the announcement reads. “Free groceries. Free market. Built for the people of New York. We’ll see you next week at the Polymarket’s grand opening. We love you, New York City.”
For Brooklyn resident Thaddeus Romero, who works as a doorman and concierge in the evenings, the appeal is practical. He arrived just after 10 a.m., hoping to find a good spot in the line after get off work the night before.
“Every crazy idea always makes for great music,” Romero said money wise While he waits. By mid-afternoon, the line was still stretching down the block, and he described the scene as calm and orderly.
Romero was most interested in the meat selections. “You go to the grocery store now and some of the meat is very expensive,” he said, noting that prices can vary greatly depending on where you shop. He noted that a rib-eye steak still costs between $10 and $14 in some stores, but there’s no guarantee of finding it at that price.
Moneywise/Rebecca Stropoli
These costs reflect the broader pressures many New Yorkers are already feeling. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics(2), the average American household spends approximately $504 per month on groceries. In New York City, grocery prices surged 65.8% between 2012 and 2023, according to a report released last year by the New York State Comptroller’s Office (3).
Romero said the most he’s spent on grocery shopping is about $120. While he prefers to buy chicken, beef, T-bone steaks and rib-eye steaks, he strives to keep his weekly grocery bill under $100, often closer to $90. He lives alone and shops to extend his week’s spending.
“They have really good chicken breasts there. I got some ground beef and, surprisingly, bison meat,” he added.
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Rival prediction market Kalshi has made a similar move, hosting a $50 grocery giveaway for East Village shoppers earlier this month at a pop-up store(4). But the timing also taps into a larger conversation taking place in New York City: how expensive food has become, and who exactly is responsible for making it more affordable.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has floated a proposal to open city-run grocery stores in each borough to sell food at wholesale prices. The idea has divided affordability advocates and industry groups, sparking debate over whether public grocery stores would meaningfully reduce costs or disrupt the private market.
Mamdani seemed to acknowledge the tension and responded to Polymarket’s announcement of a free store on X (5). He posted a screenshot of a deadpan caption that read: “Heartbreaking: The worst person you know just made a great point.”
Inside the store, however, little of Polymarket’s core business is visible. No betting tips appeared next to the free food aisles.
Elsewhere in the country, free grocery stores are not a gimmick but a permanent community service. In Maryland, the Enoch Pratt Library launched the Pratt Free Market in fall 2024. The store is open twice a week and serves about 200 people a day, allowing anyone to buy groceries without ID or income requirements. M’balu “Lu” Bangura, director of equity and equity practices at the library, said the idea grew out of pandemic-era shortages and she firmly believed that watching people go hungry was not something she could accept (6).
The contrast looms over the Polymarket pop-up, which has been criticized for treating free food as a marketing ploy. Still, shoppers waiting in line seemed largely unaffected by the controversy. Some told The Washington Post they wanted the products on the market to be permanent fixtures rather than one-time activations (7).
Among them was Luke McInerney, a 31-year-old software engineer from Manhattan who brought a folding chair to work on his laptop.
“I just think it’s a quintessential New York experience,” he said.
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Substack (1); Bureau of Labor Statistics (2); New York State Comptroller’s Office (3); New York Post (4, 7); @NYCMayor (5); Folk Food (6)
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