NOOO! Gray’s Papaya Raising Prices
Photo Source: @Glark, via @ReporterLeslie
The rapture never came, but I consider this a close second: Gray’s Papaya is raising their prices.
@Glark caught this ominous message posted in the window of the Upper West Side stalwart located at Broadway & 72nd. The text reads:
“We are getting killed by the galloping inflation in food costs. Unlike politicians, we cannot raise our debt ceiling and are forced to raise our very reasonable prices. Please don’t hate us!”
No word yet on when the new prices go into affect, but dogs can still be had at $1.50 a piece for the time being.
When I was about 20, I was living in Westchester and dating a girl in the city. She lived on the UES, and for my nighttime drives back home, I would detour west and stop at Gray’s for a helping of hot dogs. At the time, they were only 50 cents each! Since at that point in my life I could eat with impunity (really you wouldn’t believe what I could pack away), my standard order was six dogs (although I’d order by twos to seem less gluttonous). Mind you, this was after already having consumed dinner.
Over the years I’ve watch the prices slowly rise. I can’t really blame Gray’s — costs do go up, inflation does happen — but there was something just magical about a 50 cent hot dog, especially during that period of my life. Manhattan was still new to me at the time, and this 24-hour hot dog emporium on the Upper West Side, with its endless rows of cheap wieners, struck me as one of the great retail achievements in the history of mankind.
My metabolism has caught up with me since the late-90s and I’ve severely curbed my hot dog intake, but I can’t help but read this news with a little bit of sadness and longing for the past. I’m now officially just a few price increases away from being a crazy old person who rants about how life used to be simpler back before the turn of the century…
Filed under: Food & Drink, Going Out, Landmark, News, Restaurants, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog No Comments »
Tags: cheap hot dogs, gray's raises prices, Grays Papaya, Inflation, New York City, NYC, price increase, Recession Special, Upper West Side, UWS
