Depending on where you shop, a fiver plus a handful of change can get you a lot on the Lower East Side.
The melting pot of cultures — Chinese, Jewish, Latino and more — has generated a wide variety of businesses, from bargain hair salons offering $5 haircuts to artisanal cafes featuring $5.25 iced mocha coffees.
With a range of price points, shops and restaurants in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood aim to serve the newer hipster and young-professional crowd, along with longtime locals.
Basic Haircut — $5
Ting Ting Hair Salon at 302 Grand St. chops through about 50 customers each day, and a trim for short-haired adult customers costs only $5, according to licensed hairdresser of two years Yan Zatn.
"We are very straightforward here," said Zatn, who can get the job done in less than 10 minutes.
Kids can get an even cheaper makeover at $4 per cut in the tiny salon, which has been open for 10 years.
And forget going to Drybar for a $40 wash and blowout — Zatn and her team of five licensed hairdressers will do it for about $8.
"We don't advertise," she said. "These are all people from the neighborhood."
25 Pork and Chive Dumplings — $5
Ten pork and chive dumplings go for just $2 at China North Dumpling, at 27 Essex St. between Hester and Grand streets, but a fiver will give you a meal for two, plus a few left over.
"We take less profit off each order so more people come," said Chen Jin Guo, 57, who opened the store eight years ago with his wife and offers 25 dumplings for $5. "We have a lot of returning customers."
His staff of five work long days to make the hundreds of dumplings, sesame pancakes and spring rolls that leave the store each day.
Gluten-Free Cupcake — $4.95
Babycakes NYC bakery, at 248 Broome St., is the saving grace for the discerning dieter and allergy-stricken customer.
"Our cupcakes are gluten free, soy free and vegan," wrote the bakery’s general manager, Amy Lachenauer, of the business that opened in 2005. "We use only natural ingredients, no artificial colors or flavorings, and make everything in our own ovens in the New York location."
Cupcakes come in a range of flavors such as vanilla, cookie crunch and chocolate mint.
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