Posted on 09/01/2002 5:46:10 AM PDT by sarcasm
Every so often, customers stroll into Nenex Deli and Grocery in the Wakefield section of the Bronx and ask for a pack of cigarettes. Only when the clerk asks for $7 do they realize their mistake. They've just unwittingly crossed from Mount Vernon in Westchester County to the Bronx, where cigarettes cost $1.50 more per pack. "Customers come in, and when I tell them the price, they say, 'No way, I don't want it,'" said Naser Mozeb, a clerk at Nenex, just two blocks from the Mount Vernon-Bronx border. Nenex isn't alone. Wakefield clerks say the high cost of cigarettes in New York City - between $7 and $7.50 per pack - is driving their customers north to Mount Vernon or west to nearby Yonkers. Business started to decline immediately after the city enacted a $1.50 sales tax on tobacco products six weeks ago, clerks said. "Everybody goes to Mount Vernon," said clerk Obaid Al-Fata at F&A Deli, across from Nenex. "I don't blame them. They save a lot of money." Al-Fata said the store used to make $3,000 a week selling cigarettes and cigars. Now it makes a mere $500 to $700 a week. At Nenex, workers used to order about 50 cartons a week. Since the tax hike, they have yet to reorder. The problem is not only the loss of tobacco sales but also the extras smokers buy. "They buy everything here - a beer, a sandwich, a soda," said Mozeb, who estimates the store's total sales are down 25% for the month. No loopholes There is little hope of getting around the tax. The city keeps track of the stores' cigarette sales by checking supplier computer records. Inspectors also randomly visit stores, checking stamps on the bottoms of packs to ensure they are state-purchased and state-approved. Around Wakefield, smokers admit they stock up when they leave the Bronx. "My wife works in Yonkers, and she buys for me and her because it's much cheaper," said Randy Leckey, 45, a smoker for 25 years. "Prices here are ridiculous." Jose Martinez, 26, drives up the street to an Amoco service station in Mount Vernon, where he pays $5.50 a pack. The trip saves him about $10 a week on his pack-a-day Newport habit. "If I really need it, I'll buy it here," Martinez said. "But usually, I'll go to the gas station." Meanwhile, Westchester is reaping the benefits of Wakefield's losses. At Polanco Supermarket in Mount Vernon, a few blocks from White Plains Road in the Bronx, owner Niurka Polanco said cigarette sales are up. "People from the Bronx are buying up here," she said. "And they buy more packs together - four or five at a time." Polanco said the smokers also buy other products, like milk and lottery tickets. Nearby, at Lachmin Grocery on Mount Vernon Avenue, owner Mohan Sahai sympathized with the south-of-the-border businesses. "It does help my store, but I do feel sorry for them in the Bronx," he said. "They still have the same overhead expenses. That doesn't go down." The Bronx store owners try to remain optimistic, hanging on to the hope that Westchester will raise its prices, too. "If cigarettes go up in Westchester, that will be good," said Raf Halshman, a worker at F & A Deli. "We have to wait and be patient." The change better come soon, said Ahmed Mohammed, a clerk at Little Grocery on White Plains Road in the Bronx. With its cigarette sales down 75% this month, the store is struggling. "We're just a candy store," Mohammed said. "Instead of making a profit, now we're just making a living."
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