Things I Bought for $1.00 at Bodegas and Delis When I Moved to New York City in 1997

Things I Bought for $1.00 at Bodegas and Delis When I Moved to New York City in 1997

  1. 4 cigarettes
  2. 1 butter roll1
  3. 1 small coffee
  4. 1 banana
  5. 1 apple
  6. 1 Bic lighter
  7. 1 12oz can of beer
  8. 1 Subway token2
  9. 1 roll of Scottissue
  10. 1 disposable razor
  11. 1 bar of Ivory soap
  12. 2 Advil Cold and Sinus
  13. 1 large chocolate chip cookie
  14. 1 1oz bag of any Frito-Lay product
  15. 1 Lip balm
  16. 1 bagel, dry
  17. 1 pair of black crew socks
  18. 1 slice of pizza
  19. 2 hard boiled eggs
  20. 2 AA batteries 3
  21. 1 bandana
  22. 1 #10 (business) envelope
  23. 1 postage stamp

  1. Simply a buttered kaiser roll. One of the chief culinary assets of New York City is the ubiquity of at-least-decent kaiser rolls. One can order almost any grill-cooked food on a roll. The kaiser roll is the basic unit of bodega/deli fare.↩︎

  2. The fare at the time was $1.50. I normally shied away from the token resale/slug market but desperation can determine unusual patterns of behavior.↩︎

  3. e.g. “Evercharge.” If they worked at all they lasted no more than 6 hours.↩︎

Zach Barocas @zbarocas