Democratic socialist and mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani apparently wants to pay for his city-run grocery stores by using taxpayer funds that don’t actually exist.

The Queens assemblyman — who handily won the Democratic primary over ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo —  has implied that he could pull from $140 million in city subsidies directed at “corporate grocery stores” for his proposal.

But that pot of money is actually what private businesses have invested thanks to the program, called City FRESH, over a 12-year span, according to the city’s website.

In a campaign video, Mamdani said his administration would “redirect city funds from corporate supermarkets to city-owned grocery stores whose mission is lower prices, not price gouging.”

Mamdani claimed his pilot program to launch five government-run grocery stores — one in each borough — would cost just $60 million as he called up the City Fresh program again in a podcast interview Monday.

“It is something that would cost $60 million in total, which is less than half of what the city is currently set to spend on subsidizing corporate supermarkets through a program called City Fresh,” he said on the “Plain English” podcast with Derek Thompson. 

“The reason I bring this up is that too often we don’t interrogate the ways in which city government is already intervening in this, but doing so in a manner that tries to absolve itself of responsibility and instead further invests in a model that is leaving us with the same results,” he continued.

“The City Fresh program, which is set to cost about $140 million, is one that doesn’t require the supermarkets receiving the subsidy to accept SNAP or WIC,” Mamdani wrongly claimed about the program’s pricetag.

The $140 million actually refers to: “The amount of money invested into NYC’s economy through FRESH,” according to the city’s website.

Only some $30 million in tax breaks have been doled out to participating grocers as part of City Fresh over that same 12 year span.

Overall, 27 grocery stores meant to alleviate food deserts across the five boroughs have benefited from the City Fresh tax breaks. 

The Mamdani campaign claimed the Democratic mayoral candidate had not misread the website or gotten his math wrong.

A campaign spokesperson said part of the grocery-store program would be paid for with City Fresh funds, and the rest would come from slapping an additional 1% tax on the ultra-wealthy.

The campaign for Mayor Eric Adams, who is running on an independent line in the November general election, blasted his lefty rival for the fuzzy math.  

“Zohran Mamdani’s plan for government-run grocery stores is built on $140 million in subsidies that don’t exist. Why? He misread a website. This isn’t just sloppy, it’s reckless,” Adams posted on X Tuesday, while sharing a Washington Examiner article on the topic.

The city-run grocers plank is among a collection of lefty policies and freebies that Mamdani pushed during his successful primary campaign.

If elected, Mamdani said he would open five government-run stores — which would be exempt from paying rent or property taxes — as part of an experiment to lower the cost of food and other grocery goods.

Grocery stores and bodegas are insisting that city-run stores would put them out of business because they won’t be able to offer the same lower prices.

Gristedes owner John Catsimatidis has vowed to close this chain of markets if Mamdani is elected mayor.“City-owned supermarkets don’t work,” the billionaire businessman said at a rally Monday. “Cities do not know how to run a business.”