"The Attack of Inflation" The End of New York's $1 Pizza Era [Correspondent Diary]

Rising Ingredient and Labor Costs Push Up Street Food Pizza Prices
Soaring Inflation Drives Negative Economic Ratings in the US
Biden's Approval Ratings Also Plummet

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The food in New York comparable to Korea's Tteokbokki is pizza. The pizza baked in a wood-fired oven by descendants of Italian immigrants has made New York the city of pizza. Recently, a pizza shop also became a hot topic as the lottery sales location where a winning ticket worth 500 billion won was sold.

As the COVID-19 situation has calmed down, it is now easy to find people carrying a slice of pizza in a paper plate roaming the streets of Manhattan.

The reason Manhattan pizza is familiar is because it is cheap. Even at a hamburger chain, you need to pay a 10-dollar bill for a meal, but a slice of pizza can be eaten for as little as 1 dollar.

In New York, which boasts murderous prices, there is no cheaper meal when considering cost-effectiveness. The reporter also satisfied hunger last week by eating a 1-dollar pizza at a pizza shop near Times Square in Manhattan.

A menu board of a 1-dollar pizza shop in Manhattan, New York City. It is expected to become difficult to eat 1-dollar pizza in Manhattan.
Photo by Baek Jong-min

The era of 1-dollar pizza in New York is coming to an end. Now, it is expected that you will need two 1-dollar bills to eat pizza.

2 Bros Pizza, a representative 1-dollar pizza business, recently raised the price of a slice of pizza to 1.5 dollars. Although the restaurant still has a sign advertising 1 dollar, they decided it was impossible to sell pizza for 1 dollar due to rising costs of ingredients and labor. A restaurant official explained, "The prices of all ingredients such as flour, cheese, tomato gloves, paper boxes, and labor costs have skyrocketed."

It is not only the 1-dollar pizza price that is rising. Mona Lisa Pizza, a famous pizza restaurant located in Staten Island, recently raised the price of a slice of pizza from 2.25 dollars to 2.75 dollars, a 22% increase. The restaurant owner complained that even with the price increase, they cannot keep up with the rising cost of raw materials. According to him, the price of garlic has risen by 400% compared to a year ago. Flour increased by 50%, and tomatoes by 76%. The gas used to bake pizza also surged by 20%. The only consolation was that the price of cheese rose by just 10%.

Customers are dissatisfied. A customer of 2 Bros Pizza said, "Price increases can be scary at times. Eventually, all restaurants will raise their prices," expressing concern.

Restaurants are also troubled because raising pizza prices might reduce the number of customers.

The owner of a pizza shop announced a price increase on Facebook, expressing difficulties due to rising ingredient costs.

Renny Gionado, who operates Mona Lisa Pizza, honestly confessed the reality of not being able to raise prices through Facebook. He said, "I immigrated here 30 years ago, worked hard, and sent my three children to college, but there is no longer an American Dream. The times are wrong."

Although the U.S. economy has recovered and wages have risen, inflation, which surged 6.2% in one year, is harming the U.S. economy. Real wages have actually decreased because wage increases have not kept pace with inflation.

Discontent is directed at U.S. President Joe Biden. In a Washington Post-ABC poll released on the 14th (local time), 70% of respondents evaluated the economy negatively.

Half of the respondents believed that President Biden was responsible for the rise in inflation. Biden's economic policy approval rating was 39%, lower than his overall job approval rating of 41%. This means voters are giving failing grades to the Biden administration's economic policies.

Voters who chose the Democratic Party opposing former President Donald Trump's COVID-19 response are now tired of rising prices and are looking back at the Republican Party. Fifty-one percent of voters said they would choose the Republican Party if the midterm elections were held that day, while only 41% chose the Democratic Party.