The Cost of Living

In this morning's NY Post, there is more evidence of the theme we have been commenting on for the past few weeks: the higher costs of living as reflected in the rising price of groceries in NYC; "Given that food prices increased 0.9 percent in April alone, there is no question that higher wheat, rice, and soybean prices are partly to blame."

However, the fact that the Post focuses its attention on a rather affluent Manhattan family, skews the analysis: "Still, while the family of four may be feeling the pinch, it is going to have to grow into a punch before they start changing their behavior. "The increases are definitely noticeable, but I can't say it's changing a lot of decisions," said Foodim, who manages veryshortlist.com, an e-mail tip sheet for interesting reading and events. "The stuff that is going up is related to our family and not really anything we can change. We have to buy food for the kids."

Transpose this report to an elderly couple in Brooklyn, or to a family trying to make do on food stamps in order to eat, Once this is done, then the nature of the food prices/grocery store closings crisis becomes clearer. It is also why we will be gathering on the steps of City Hall next week to galvanize the public sector to act to mitigate this situation for all New Yorkers.