Inflation is hitting New Yorkers where it really hurts \u2014 in their morning cup of Joe.<\/p>\n
Coffee cart prices are creeping up as vendors scramble to keep up with ever-increasing supply costs \u2013 leaving caffeine-starved commuters and tourists groaning about another pinch on their wallets.<\/p>\n
The iconic carts omnipresent on the sidewalks of Midtown Manhattan are still one of the last bastions of affordable java in the Big Apple, but many spots have upped prices by 50 cents in recent months, with a small cup going for $1.50 and a large up to $2.50, vendors and coffee drinkers told The Post.<\/p>\n
Cart jockeys around Rockefeller Center and Times Square blame inflation and tariff threats \u2014 and warn it could turn into a full-blown coffee cart crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything\u2019s more expensive,\u201d 20-year java seller Aziz Changezi told The Post from his Midtown coffee cart. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything\u2019s more expensive,\u201d fumed 20-year java seller Aziz Changezi, who sells coffee and breakfast in Manhattan\u2019s Diamond District. His ol\u2019 reliable 3-pound tub of Kirkland Colombian coffee used to fuel local workers has surged in price from under $10 in 2020 to more than $22 in 2026, he said.<\/p>\n
A $1.50 small coffee in 2023 at Changezi\u2019s stand on 47th Street now runs customers $1.75. Large coffees are priced at $2.50, up from $2.<\/p>\n
Changezi, originally from Mongolia before starting his Big Apple business in 2004, said he\u2019s only increased his coffee prices by just a dollar in the two decades he\u2019s been roasting.<\/p>\n
Though he maintains his prices are still affordable compared to chain coffee shops, the caffeine sticker shock on one of the city\u2019s last affordable hallmarks may soon have some New Yorkers ditching the tradition of grabbing a cup on the walk to the office or construction site.<\/p>\n
\u201cI may have to make coffee myself in the morning at home,\u201d said 61-year-old divorce attorney Dror Bikel, who works and lives in Manhattan. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought under this mayor, the price is supposed to go down, but it seems like it\u2019s going in the other direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI may have to make coffee myself in the morning at home,\u201d said 61-year-old divorce attorney Dror Bikel, who works and lives in Manhattan. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is going up: It\u2019s just not coffee, it\u2019s just the prices of everything,\u201d said Long Island resident George Sierra, who works in Manhattan. \u201cI try to just drink one cup [of coffee] a day, and I do it at home.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Lou, a worker at nearby Saks Fifth Avenue, said of the growing coffee prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot anymore,\u201d he said when asked how frequently he buys coffee at Midtown carts. \u201cI\u2019ll do it at home: It\u2019s cheaper than even the carts, the stores, the bodegas.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the brewing trouble in Midtown is being felt across the nation, according to federal data. <\/p>\n
A pound of 100% ground roast coffee in the US, which once cost $4.10 in January 2020, has since jumped to more than $9 as of January 2026, per the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a price increase of 33% since 2025, and 124% since 2020.<\/p>\n
A pound of 100% ground roast coffee in the US, which once cost $4.10 in January 2020, has since jumped to more than $9 as of January 2026, according to federal data.\u00a0<\/p>\n