Average New Yorkers rocked by inflation: ‘I can’t afford proper food’
New Yorkers are still feeling the pinch thanks to inflation — as experts just revealed Americans are forking over $709 more per month on common goods than they did just two years ago.
Some are scrimping by shopping only when the sales come around — while others, like Yvonne Lindesay have been forced to eat less healthy to contend with rising food costs.
“Everything is high as hell,” Lindesay, 67, said Monday.
Here’s how other New Yorkers feel about having to tighten their purse strings:
Adam and Fran Cardone
Magician Adam Cardone said he and his mother have been forced to hunt for sales in order to stock their pantry and fridge, but that the stores where they live never offer any discounts.
“We have to look for sales,” he said outside a Stop & Shop in Rockaway Park, Queens. “I live closer to the projects and nothing is ever on sale. Now tell me why? Why are things here on sale all the time and not there?”
“We have noticed our bills have almost doubled. It’s doubled and everything has shrunk. All the products are smaller. They’re cutting it down — if it was 12 cookies, it’s now 4.”
Cardone, 49, said it wasn’t just grocery prices that were gouging his wallet, but fundamental things like going to the movies, too.
“Even in the old days, the poor people thought the movies were cheap. It used to be the cheap thing to do,” he said. “What is the cause of it? Some of [the inflated prices] are bullsh–t, but I really can’t tell.”
Adam’s 76-year-old mother, Fran, estimated that her bills had more than doubled, and that markets were skimping on what they sold.
“My bill used to be $100-$110. Today, it was $225, for the same amount of food,” she said. “The boxes are empty.”
“If people have a lot of kids, you can’t afford to come here,” she added. “The cashiers will tell you, everyone that’s coming out has something to say about their bill. Every week it’s more than it was last week.”
Myah Rodriguez
At the Upper West Side Whole Foods, 39-year-old fashion business owner Myah Rodriguez said she’s been clocking inflation by watching the price of tomato sauce creep up.
“It was like $7. It’s usually like $5,” she said at the on 97th Street and Columbus Avenue store. “The chicken breasts are like really overpriced for just like three stacks of little chicken breast.”
“We live in the Bronx so I also think it depends where you live.”
Rodriguez said feeding her family quality food was important to her, and that she was holding out against making dietary sacrifices for as long as she could.
“We like the high quality. It’s important to us.” she said.
Carole Sanders
Now retired and on a fixed income, Carole Sanders worked in supermarkets for 29 years and said prices today have left her forgoing certain foods altogether at the expense of her health.
“I don’t eat that much meat. I stopped because I can’t afford it.” said Sanders, 75. “I’m not getting good nutrition. I need to get better nutrition than I have because I have a bad kidney.”
“A dozen eggs is at least $5. They used to be $3.99. Meat is going up.”
“I’m not eating the proper food I should be eating because basically I can’t afford the proper food I should be eating.”
Chris Geist
Currently unemployed “because of all the crap that’s going on,” Chris Geist was shopping at a Key Food on the Upper West Side with his two rabbits, Margaret and Patty, in a duffel bag.
“I got ‘em from a lady in New Jersey,” he said.
“I got all kinds of names for them. If they monkey around they’re monkeys. If their hair stands up they look like porcupines. I call them my precious-es. They’re my monstrosities,” Geist said, stroking Margaret.
But he said the cost of properly feeding his beloved pets is rising, explaining that he’d recently been forced to buy cilantro because the price of the bunny-favorite romaine was too high for his budget.
“Certain foods they can eat, organic food products like romaine lettuce have gone up. It was $1.99, now it’s $3.59 for a head of romaine lettuce,” said Geist, 50.
“They eat better than I do. I’m splurging with the chicken, otherwise I’m a salad guy, too.”
Geist said the cost of pelleted rabbit food at Petco has risen over the last two years as well, but that he has no plans of letting inflation get in the way of his pets’ health and nutrition.
“I’d rob and steal,” he said, noting that he would only do so within reason and for the rabbits.
“I’m not going to run out with a prime rib to make a statement.”
Lucille, 72
Lucille, who didn’t want to give her last name, said while she thinks food has always been expensive, she felt her cash was not going nearly as far as it once did.
“It’s always been expensive. For me it also depends on the store and convenience,” said the 72-year-old.
“It seems like a 100 bill is a 20 dollar bill now.”
