A cup of coffee now costs $5.40 in Midtown
The Bugle bought 40 cups between 34th and 59th Streets. The average was $5.40, the most expensive was $9, and the cheapest came from a cart that charges extra "if he's been around."
A medium black coffee in Midtown now costs an average of $5.40, according to a survey in which this newspaper bought 40 cups between 34th and 59th Streets over two mornings and drank most of them.
The cheapest cup, $1.75, came from a cart on Sixth Avenue. The most expensive, $9, came from a hotel lobby on Park Avenue where it was served in a glass and described, on the menu, as "a pour-over experience." It was fine.
The survey
The Bugle bought one medium black coffee at every coffee shop, cart and bakery on a zig-zag route from Herald Square to Columbus Circle. Prices were recorded before tax and before tip. Tips were given anyway, because the reporter was raised properly.
- Carts: average $2.10 (12 cups)
- Chains: average $4.35 (14 cups)
- Independent cafés: average $6.20 (11 cups)
- Hotels: average $8.50 (3 cups)
Last year the Bugle's same survey came to $4.90. The year before, $4.40.
“If he's been around, I charge a quarter more. People are stressed. Stressed people buy coffee.”
Cart owner, Sixth Avenue
The surcharge
The cart on Sixth Avenue charged $1.75 on the first morning and $2 on the second. Asked about the difference, the owner explained that his price goes up by a quarter on mornings when the web-slinger has been active nearby.
"If he's been around, I charge a quarter more," he said. "People are stressed. Stressed people buy coffee. It's not personal. It's supply and demand. Also I have to clean web off the umbrella."
Why it costs more
Café owners cite rent, beans and labour, in that order. One owner on West 45th Street, whose medium costs $6.50, said her rent had gone up 14 percent in January and that beans had "gone the way of everything else." She said the alternative to charging $6.50 was closing, and that she had done the maths twice.
The $9 cup
The hotel on Park Avenue declined to comment on its pricing. The reporter can confirm that the coffee was hot, that the glass was heavy, and that nobody has ever looked at her the way the waiter did when she asked for it to go.