Slice of life: New York?s famed $1 street pizza under threat from rising costs

"Well, you can never go wrong with bread, cheese and tomato," Lou Reed, poet of the New York streets, would sometimes remark as he passed by one of the city's multitude of pizzerias.

The late musician was a fan of Coney Island's legendary Totonno's, close to the site of of one of the first recorded pizza parlors established by Italian immigrants in the 1880s.

One hundred and forty years on, New York's obsessive relationship with cheap street pizza - there are around 1,700 pizzerias across the city - is as enmeshed as ever. But there are now cracks in that union. Rent is increasing, and supply chain problems leading to inflation is pushing up the cost of oil, cheese, wheat and meat. Deliveries are spotty, tomato sauce faces higher shipping costs, and pizza boxes are scarce.

Now the existence of the fabled 99¢ or dollar pizza outlets that rely on fast, high-volume trade is being threatened after nearly two years of pandemic-reduced foot traffic. That is a blow not only to the city's image, but also to many low-income New Yorkers in times of trouble.

Abdul Muhammad, owner of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza, an eight-location chain in Manhattan, said he may raise the price of his slice for the first time since opening in 2001 if costs continue to rise. "I have to think about it because my customers, many of them unemployed and struggling to make rent, can't afford to pay more."

99 Cent Fresh stayed open during the pandemic except for one month in March 2020, in part, Muhammed said, because he knows that for some of his customers a slice is all the food they may get.

"I feel bad because everybody has had a lot of problems with the coronavirus, no jobs, everything was closed, and the food stores that were open doubled their prices. So I try to stay open to help the people," Muhammad added.