The New York slice of pizza is an institution as iconic as the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State building. For years, the cheapest slices of pizza have been the dollar slices, starting at 99 cent pizza near Port Authority, and expanding to chains like 2 Brothers, who also offer the thrifty slices. However, as competition grows among cheap pizza places, the tactics are getting more cutthroat and the vendetta is getting personal.

The New York Times reports that two pizza-by-the-slice joints in Midtown Manhattan are prepared to fight to the last cent to get all the customers and the last word in cheap pizza.

2 Bros. moved in across the street from Bombay/6 Ave Pizza last October offering pizza for the same $1 per slice price as its competitors. All was well until the last week in March, when Bombay lowered its price to 79 cents per slice. To compete, 2 Bros. made its pizza 75 cents a slice, which infuriated Bombay’s owner, who sees it as an effort to edge out all competition. Bombay’s manager, Mohid Kumar, claims that he had to make prices lower in order to compete with 2 Bros., whose close location was stealing all their customers. He sees 2 Bros. as big business and his own establishment as a neighborhood joint just trying to make ends meet. 2 Bros. owner Eli Halali swears that the move to 75 cents was only temporary and that if Bombay returns to $1, then he will as well.

For now, though, matters are not that simple. Feelings are hurt, emotions are inflamed, and Bombay’s owner says that it will not go back to $1, in hopes of driving 2 Bros. out of business. In fact, both establishments threaten to go even lower on price point. Kumar makes a point of saying of Halali, “I want to beat him.”

Whoever wins in this case, the one winner is clear: the customer, getting NYC pizza at prices that are cheaper than ever.

Sources:
Kleinfeld, N.R. (2012, March 30). In Manhattan Pizza War, Price of Slice Keeps Dropping. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/31/nyregion/in-manhattan-pizza-war-price-of-slice-keeps-dropping.html?pagewanted=all