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Jul 17, 2008 7:46 pm US/Eastern
New Yorkers Fighting Through High Costs Of Living
From Doing Laundry To Parking, People Are Feeling Crunch
By CAROLYN COSTELLO, CBS 2 HD News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
From driving to parking, doing your laundry to keeping up your home, the cost of living is taking a leap in the New York area.
CBS 2 HD spoke with several New Yorkers on Thursday who are paying more for just about everything.
The cost of living seems to be spinning out of control.
On the Upper East Side, doing laundry costs more. A wash has gone up from $2 a load to $2.25. Drying a load has gone up from $3.75 to $5.
Customers say the extra quarters add up quick.
Laundromat owners say the price of natural gas, water and electricity are all going up, so they're forced to charge more. Arik Lifshitz, who just bought the "Laundry Lounge," is hoping he doesn't get socked.
"Listen, everyone needs to do their laundry," he said. "They're not gonna walk around in dirty clothes all day."
In the suburbs, landscapers like Joe Yedowitz are learning that homeowners are willing to live without beautiful yards.
Yedowitz says his growing business is slowing down this season because of one major cost increase being passed along to customers.
"Fuel primarily," Yedowitz said. "We've seen between a 25-27 percent increase in fuel costs."
People are paying more to park their cars too. At one lot on 58th Street in Manhattan customers say the cost has gone up $2 a day in the last month.
"I mean the price of gas is just affecting everything all across the board," driver Eric Cromwell said.
AAA says because of high gas prices more people are choosing mass transit over driving. So, with fewer people parking, some garages are looking for ways to make up the lost revenue.
As expensive as it is to park in New York, it's actually still a bargain compared to some other major cities around the world. In London median parking rates are more than $1,100 a month. That's more than double what it costs to park here.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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