Recession bites! Gray's Papaya raises the price on its famous special

by Bruce Watson, Posted Oct 22nd 2008 @ 6:00PM

Long before Manhattan eateries started lowering prices to bring in depressed (and recessed) customers, Gray's Papaya was famous for its amazing "Recession Special." Debuting in the 1990's, the special originally cost $1.95, but rose to its current price of $3.50 in the early 2000's. Consisting of a medium tropical beverage and two hot dogs, the combination of two perfectly prepared hot dogs and a medium fruit drink has become a New York institution and one of the city's best bargains.

Unfortunately, the arrival of a real recession has forced the hot dog retailer to raise the price on its special. In February, seeing the writing on the wall, Gray's founder Nicholas Gray began warning customers that a price increase was on the way. This week, it finally came to pass: the special has now gone up to $4.45.

Even with the increase of $0.95, the special is still a great deal, and a great way to weather economic hard times. Let's just hope that things get better before Gray's has to break $5!

Filed Under: Budget Cuisine, Business, The Best ... in All of New York, Food Politics, Ingredients, Chefs & Restaurants, Fast Food, Restaurants
Tags: america, comfort food, featured, Grays Papaya, GraysPapaya, hot Dogs, HotDogs, new York, NewYork, Nicholas Gray, NicholasGray

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-22-2008 @9:05PM dholway said... The company's costs may very well have increased, and it is simply passing the costs on to the customer....but these increased costs have nothing to do with a recession. Gasoline prices, sure.
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10-23-2008 @1:42PM Bruce Watson said... DHolway-
Actually, recessions are caused by a combination of inflation and rising unemployment. Inflation over the past year has driven prices up, and that's a large part of what's happening with Gray's.
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10-23-2008 @10:41PM dholway said... "Actually, recessions are caused by a combination of inflation and rising unemployment."

Wow. Recessions are caused by rising unemployment? That's hilarious. What's next? Claiming that winter is caused by cold temperatures?
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10-23-2008 @10:45PM Bruce Watson said... Dholway-

Wow, sarcastic much? Okay, if you prefer, how about this: Use of the term recession is caused by...

Or, to be precise, I guess I could say, recessions are CHARACTERIZED by inflation and rising unemployment.

All of this, of course, is semantics. I assume that you got my point; moreover, your sarcastic answer indicates that you don't really have an answer for it.
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10-25-2008 @9:21PM dholway said... "Or, to be precise, I guess I could say, recessions are CHARACTERIZED by inflation and rising unemployment.

"All of this, of course, is semantics. I assume that you got my point; moreover, your sarcastic answer indicates that you don't really have an answer for it."

Come on, Bruce, it's not a matter of semantics to mix up causes and effects. It's more a matter of you not having any idea what you're opining upon. While it is true that rising unemployment is a characteristic of an economy being in a recessionary period, rising unemployment has nothing at all to do with Gray's Papaya raising its prices. (If you think it does, should we expect lower prices when the job market improves?) And while inflation may very well be at least part of the reason for Gray's Papaya raising prices, inflation is NOT a characteristic of recessions. If anything, recessions are likely to cause deflation of prices.
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