The CEO didn’t anticipate that so many people would show up. For 22 years and still going, Zoitas has been expanding the small, family – run grocery store across New York City to the extent that its name is misleading—it’s also the EastSide Market, not to mention the Uptown and Downtown ones as well.
On Sunday, Zoitas told that he was at the Knicks game and met some people from the , who offered to pay for an event where shoppers could each get $50 worth of free groceries between noon and 3:00 pm. calculated that if all around 300 people in the line spent the full allotted amount, it could cost Kalshi up to $150,000 in groceries.
“We’re just thrilled to assist the community,” Zoitas said. “I’ve been here through 9/11 and through COVID.” As New York shivered under of the coldest winter days in its entire history, Zoitas came to work on Tuesday only to find that the line for the event not only went around the block but wrapped around four blocks. In the winter cold, mothers stood with their bundled – up children while students, retirees, and the self – employed waited two or more hours to squeeze into the market and fill their carts.
Zoitas rolled up his sleeves, poured coffee himself, and handed it out to the people waiting outside, saying he was concerned about their well – being. He repeatedly waved off this reporter, saying “people are cold outside, I don’t have time for this.”
In a calmer moment, Zoitas said he just wanted everyone to have a fair chance. “We’re trying to make it enjoyable and happy for everyone,” he said. “We’re not trying to shortchange anyone.”
‘My food stamps are at zero’
Despite the cold and the rush, many people in the line were in good spirits. When snowflakes started to fall, some stuck out their tongues and laughed, playfully nudging each other.
Near the back of the line, 31 – year – old Amy Perez rocked her 7 – month – old daughter in a stroller. “My food stamps are at zero,” she said. “I need this.” She gestured to the crowd. “Clearly I’m not the only one in need right now.”
Perez was grateful but not entirely sure who to thank. She and her 22 – year – old friend Stephanie, who was also pushing a stroller with a child, said they had never heard of Kalshi. In fact, most of the people spoke to in the line were unfamiliar with Kalshi and had never heard of prediction markets. Some said they had looked up the company beforehand and felt uneasy about the concept.
28 – year – old Kayla, a health aide, said she was cautious about how addictive prediction markets could be, especially considering her family’s history with addiction. Still, clutching hand warmers under her gloves, she said she appreciated that Kalshi seemed to be addressing New Yorkers’ rising cost of living. “They’re helping the community,” Kayla said. “So even if they’re also harming the community, it kind of evens out.”
24 – year – old Jack Henry, a student near the back of the line, said the rise of prediction markets felt “scary” and like a “slippery slope.” But the giveaway made him reconsider. “Gambling might not be the purest industry,” he said. “But they’re giving money back to New Yorkers. They’re giving all these people free groceries.”
Almost right on time, just as the Kalshi event got started, its bigger and more vocal rival Polymarket on that it would go even further: opening an entire free grocery store for five days the following week.
The strange rivalry—what do grocery stores have to do with prediction markets, anyway?—highlights both the growing controversy surrounding prediction markets and their desire to be seen as part of the mainstream, real world rather than the shady, disreputable parts of internet gambling.
“Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking these companies are giving away money out of the goodness of their hearts,” said , a sports betting expert and a fellow at the American Institute for Boys and Men, a think tank focused on male well – being. “They want to become as well – known as possible, get as much publicity as possible, right? No PR is bad PR.”
Hosting giveaways at grocery stores grounds the prediction market giants in ordinary reality, the kinds of things that people use the apps to bet on: signs all around the store asked, “Will gas prices be above $3.30 in New York this year?” or “Will New York open a city – owned grocery store before 2028?”
Where’s the beef?
While online ads attract the kind of people more likely to already use prediction markets—finance bros, political junkies, and crypto enthusiasts—the WestSide market was filled on this day with parents, elderly people, and service workers. Some of the younger students bought beers or candy with the extra cash, but a significant number of people saw bought only meat, especially red meat.
Agricultural economist Michael Swanson, who regularly calculates food prices compared to inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, told that beef is both much more popular than chicken and offers considerably less value. The average hour of work pays for 3.34 pounds of beef in 2026, he said, while it pays for 12.6 pounds of chicken. “I mean, people just love that beef,” he said, to the point where they ignore its low affordability. “And so people are like, ‘Yeah, you know what? I just love beef enough that I’m going to have my hamburger or my steak when I want it.”
Kalshi seems to be betting that these participants will come to view prediction markets as something like the beef they just can’t get enough of.
Americans with lower incomes are more than twice as likely to be “problem gamblers” than those who aren’t, . Problem gambling is defined by the frequency of bets and their increasing value.
But Rose – Berman told that lower – income gamblers aren’t particularly appealing consumers for prediction market apps. “All companies, but gambling companies in particular, are very good at calculating something called consumer lifetime value,” he said, explaining that this is the amount of money you can expect to make from a consumer over their lifetime.
Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket earn revenue by taking fees on trades, which means profitability depends less on how many people sign up and more on how much and how often those users trade over time. Higher – income customers, who can afford to place larger and more frequent bets over long periods, are far more valuable to the business than users making small, one – off trades, Rose – Berman said. Obviously, he added, it’s a problem for platforms like Kalshi to target lower – income people who can least afford to lose their hard – earned money.
Inside the store, groups of bright – eyed Kalshi employees—mostly young, many holding expensive cameras—filmed the scene. They declined to comment to , but were visible, watching from the corners, amazed at the chaos as store employees rushed to manage the lines of hungry New Yorkers.
45 – year – old Melia Jackson said she was grateful for the chance to save money. She had never heard of prediction markets but planned to look them up once she got home.
“I’m okay with them,” she said, laughing, “as long as I win.”
Additional reported contributed by Nick Lichtenberg.