Welcome to the One-Dollar Bagel
March 26, 2008 – 11:22 am
So, the economy is tanking (can’t wait for that $600 check!), consumer prices are through the roof (thanks, Ethanol!), and the dollar is barely worth the paper it’s printed on (the paper is from Crane, and Crane paper is pretty expensive). It’s already expensive to live in New York City, and it’s only getting worse.
My latest sticker shock happened when I went in for my usual Sunday morning bagel at my local ma-and-pop bagel shop, David’s Bagels. It was hard to miss, considering it was plastered all over the place on bright green signs like the one on the right.
Welcome to New York, home of the $1 bagel! And a buttered bagel? Open your wallet a little bit wider.
That’s up from $1.00 just a couple weeks ago - a 35% increase. Outrageous? Yes, but I guess this just makes up for the fact that my rent only went up 1.5% when I resigned my lease this year.
I can’t say I can blame them for raising prices. The cost of milk and wheat is going through the roof, so it’s costing them more to make these things. Plus, with the nearby residents of Stuy Town getting forced out of their rent-stablized apartments in favor of suckers who think they’re renting luxury apartments, they won’t lose much business. But for a middle-class guy like me, that’s probably an extra $50 a year for the cost of bagels alone. And I just don’t know where that money is going to come from. I never considered a fresh-baked bagel a couple times a week to be a luxury. When a bagel becomes a luxury, you know you’ve been priced out of Manhattan.
You know, I remember a time when I could scoop up pocket change, go to David’s, and bring home a buttered bagel for less than a dollar. It would be hard to forget those days, since they were only two years ago.
12 Responses
Here’s how I read this post:
“Living in NY sure is easy. Bagels are delicious! When you move here, your money worries will be over, person who is about to move here!* Did I mention not to worry?”
That might not have been the message you were trying to convey, but that’s the only message my stress-addled brain is willing to handle.
*=’Here’ might be Harlem. Thoughts?
By Meaghan on Mar 26, 2008
It’s the commodities markets. I’ve been watching wheat skyrocket. Even affected Lenny’s bagels in my hood.
By Courtney on Mar 26, 2008
If it makes you feel any better, a mom and pop bagel shop doesn’t exist in Charlotte. The only bagels around here are found at some chain for well over a dollar.
By brooke on Mar 26, 2008
you’re just starting to pay a buck for a bagel NOW? where do you really live, because it can’t be around here.
By lozo on Mar 26, 2008
Bagels at H&H cost $1.30. They’ve been over a $1.00 for a long time. And they are well worth it.
By Ben K. on Mar 26, 2008
lozo: Up until recently, bagels in Manhattan have usually cost a dollar, except at lousy chains, overpriced boutiquey bagel shops, and from room service at the Plaza. I guess this is just another way that New York excels over New Jersey.
Ben K.: $1.30, and you have no option to put anything on them. What the fuck is up with that? They’re total bagel snobs - that’s why they charge so much.
By Chris on Mar 26, 2008
People - It’s time for you to meet breakfast cart bagel. $.60 will buy you a bagel or bagel with butter. Butter doesn’t cost you anything extra!! And drum roll please ….. $1 will buy you bagel w/ cream cheese! Times are tough now. You either pay for your fancy $1.35 bagel or you suck it up and learn to enjoy the beauty in a $.60 cart bagel.
By Teresa on Mar 26, 2008
Or you can go to your FAVORITE store in the whole wide world - TRADER JOE’S! You can buy a bag of bagels there for 2 bucks and some change. They come 6 bagels per bag. And while your there you can stock up on your cliff bars.
By Teresa on Mar 26, 2008
at least toasting is still only 10 cents. with the price of electricity going up, i would expect it to cost AT LEAST 15 cents.
btw, you should never toast fresh bagels. not needed.
By CraziestGadgets.com on Mar 26, 2008
I often wonder whether the people paying “luxury” rents to live in Stuy Town know that they were designed as PROJECTS for the lower middle-class.
By Sarah on Mar 26, 2008
how did your rent only go up 1.5%? mine went up 3%, and i’m rent stabilised.
By keith on Mar 27, 2008
If an increase of $50/year makes you think the product is a “luxury”, you’ve been priced out of a lot of places!!
By Steve on Mar 27, 2008