Profits for New York's newsstands have shrunk significantly in the last two years. And with a $10 cap on most items, things are more difficult than ever. CarolineSpivack reports
Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images “Lottery, candy, soda — that’s where we make our money,” says Mike Patel, who has operated a newsstand on the corner of Broadway and Chambers Street for 40 years. At the height of the print era in the 1980s, Patel would sell 2,000 newspapers a day — but “newsstand” has long been a misnomer. Now, selling ten papers would be a good day.
The price cap, which dates back to the 1980s, was intended to keep newsstands selling the news and not expand into becoming curbside bodegas. It only applies to the 339 newsstands permitted by the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection — not, to the frustration of some operators, food carts, street vendors, or stands in subway stations — and can only be increased by the City Council. It was first raised from $2 to $5 in 2001, and then from $5 to $10 in 2013.
Between supply-chain issues, inflation, and the pandemic, newsstand profits have shrunk significantly in the last two years, and with the $10 cap, things are more difficult than ever. In March 2020, David Singh had to temporarily close the newsstand he manages on Joralemon Street outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall. He wouldn’t lift the metal gate again until the summer, but with few office workers returning to the downtown area, he reduced his hours to six a day instead of 12.
“The raising of the cap, let’s say to $15, would translate to higher quality versions of the products that they already sell,” says Max Bookman, counsel to the New York City Newsstand Operators Association. That could be better snacks or umbrellas that won’t break after one use or pricier souvenirs for tourists. Newsstand operators also know exactly what they would sell if certain items were no longer off limits. “Food, food, and food.
The typical New Yorker has somewhat more mundane needs. “I can’t tell you how many times I forget my charger or earbuds and just need a quick replacement; it would be nice not to throw that money away on something that’s going to break immediately,” says Brittany Richards, a physical therapist who bought a pair of headphones at a Brooklyn newsstand Wednesday. “I’d pay for quality.”
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