Things I Bought for $1.00 at Bodegas and Delis When I Moved to New York City in 1997
- 4 cigarettes
- 1 butter roll1
- 1 small coffee
- 1 banana
- 1 apple
- 1 Bic lighter
- 1 12oz can of beer
- 1 Subway token2
- 1 roll of Scottissue
- 1 disposable razor
- 1 bar of Ivory soap
- 2 Advil Cold and Sinus
- 1 large chocolate chip cookie
- 1 1oz bag of any Frito-Lay product
- 1 Lip balm
- 1 bagel, dry
- 1 pair of black crew socks
- 1 slice of pizza
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- 2 AA batteries 3
- 1 bandana
- 1 #10 (business) envelope
- 1 postage stamp
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.↩︎
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.↩︎
e.g. “Evercharge.” If they worked at all they lasted no more than 6 hours.↩︎