【New York prices are too outrageous?】 For the first time, the price of pizza surpasses the subway ticket, and one steak is $115! In New York, there is an "urban legend" that measures prices, that is, the price of an ordinary sliced pizza, which has become an indicator of daily economic trends. There has been no major change in prices over the years, and the average price is less than $3.
There is a very popular simple pizza on the streets of New York, with only 99 cents per slice. This type of pizza usually has only cheese and no meat or other topping. 99 cent pizzas are usually sold in the small shops around the corner, lit up 24 hours a day, and there are many people waiting in line in front of the door for this cheap pizza. Buy two tablets, add a bottle of Coke, and fill up for $3. Whether it is morning, noon or supper, whether it is office workers in suits and shoes, workers in a hurry, or night tourists who drink in the middle of the night, they will always meet at the 99 cent pizzeria, for the convenience and simplicity that can be obtained at any time. In this small space that eliminates identity barriers, everyone eats pizza at the busy pace of the city, which is also one of the charms of New York! So it's no exaggeration to say that 99-cent pizza is the standard street food for New Yorkers.
The so-called pizza principle is an artificial indicator that measures the purchasing power of money. In 1980, the price of a pizza in New York was $0.90, only reached $1 10 years later, and rose to $2 in 2000. During the pandemic, prices have not changed much despite the decline in the number of customers. Therefore, the unit price of pizza is definitely not more expensive than the subway one-way ticket, which is the consensus of New Yorkers.
However, this delicate consensus is out of balance in 2022. The average price of a piece of pizza in New York in April 2022 was $3.14 due to soaring prices. Except for a very few stores, the unit price of sliced pizza in New York has now exceeded the one-way subway fare of $2.75, proving that the cost increase caused by inflation has exceeded psychological expectations, and New York's "urban legend" has been shattered! Many shops that still have the title of "$1 pizza" have risen to "$1.50 for a pizza." If this continues, 99 cent pizza is about to become a legend. But it's widely expected that by the fall, New York subway fares will climb to at least $3. The price of pizza and subway tickets will once again be balanced, with only the wallets of New Yorkers hurting the most.
Throughout daily life, the price increase is not only pizza! Natural gas prices are 24 percent more expensive than they were a year ago, wage costs in the restaurant industry are up 8 percent, flour prices are up almost 12 percent, and cheese is 10 percent more expensive. In New York, which prides itself on the restaurant industry, for more than a year, the menu in the restaurant has been rising again and again, and the owner can only barely maintain the business, while the diners can't even afford to go down. According to media reports, restaurants in Manhattan themselves are priced higher than in other cities, but prices have now reached a point that surprises locals. In Manhattan's "mid-range" restaurant, the previous appetizer was about $15-25 for a starter and $20-30 for the main course. Today, the price of a piece of roast chicken has risen to $40 and a piece of pasta to $42. Four people go to a "high-end" restaurant, each ordering a glass of wine, plus other dishes, about $400 before tipping; Jump from at least $500 now. Taking a well-known restaurant as an example, the 12oz Wagyu steak was priced at $72 last June, rose to $110 in November, and is now hovering at $115 for the time being, and it is estimated that it will soon rise again. Now if you want to eat at a restaurant, you need to prepare 20% more money to be able to afford it. And this phenomenon is not only seen in mid-range restaurants, from street parity snack bars to the most upscale restaurants, without exception!
I wonder if under this wind of price increases, will anyone leave New York again?
