Slice of NYC pizza now costs $3.14 surpassing cost of a Subway ride at $2.75 for the first time ever

A slice of pizza in the Big Apple now costs more than a ride on the city’s subway system.

The price of a slice is now more than $3 in all five boroughs for the first time, according to Bloomberg – upending the very New York metric known as the ‘pizza principle,’ which says that a cheese slice will always cost the same as a subway swipe.

The average cost of regular slice of pizza is now $3.14, well above the $2.75 fare for a ride on the subway.

In Brooklyn, the average slice costs $3.06 while the price is even higher in Manhattan at $3.26.

An average slice of pizza in the Bronx is $3.15. It’s $3.12 in Staten Island and slightly cheaper in Queens at $3.10. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said the fare for the subway will remain frozen for the foreseeable future, which means that with inflation driving up the cost of pizza ingredients, the gap between the price of a slice and a subway ride could widen even further. 

In 1980, a slice could be had for less 90 cents. It took another 10 years for the price to rise 10 cents to $1.00 and a further decade to $2.00 in 2000

In what is a very New York metric, also known as the ‘pizza principle,’ the average cost of regular slice of pizza is now $3.14, well above the $2.75 fare for a ride on the subway

Prices for a slice of plain pizza are now heading well above $3.00 in New York

‘I’ve been talking about that for forever. And now there’s a divergence,’ Paul Giannone who owns Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop in Brooklyn, told Bloomberg.  

In 1980, a slice could be had for less 90 cents. It took another 10 years for the price to rise 10 cents to $1.00, and a further decade to hit $2.00, in 2000. 

But in 2010, prices began to rise faster with averages at $2.50 before smashing through $3.00 in 2022. 

It’s not just inflation that is causing the cost of ingredients to rise – thus the cost of a slice, but also the cost of gas to fire up the ovens and that of labor.

The average price of gas has gone up by a whopping 24 percent for urban consumers nationwide, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Although the cost of cheese prices didn’t increase as much as some other food items during the pandemic, it is still up around 10 percent over three years. 

Flour has gone up by 11.6 percent over the last year alone – the fastest increase in more than a decade. 

Wages in the food industry have also risen some 7.9 percent year-over-year according to the New York State Department of Labor. 

Brooklyn average slice costs $3.06. It’s even higher in Manhattan at $3.26. An average slice of pizza in the Bronx is $3.15, $3.12 in Staten Island and slightly less in Queens at $3.10

Subway fares have been frozen at $2.75 a ride for the foreseeable future

Although there are some places still offering 99-cent slices in Manhattan, some pizzerias have also managed to keep their slices at $2.75. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in 2015 increased the base fare for the city’s subways and buses from $2.50 to $2.75, where it remains today. 

The MTA tends to raise fares every two years and was set to boost those fees in 2021, but its board postponed the hike to ease the cost for riders during the pandemic.