After New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in a speech that sales taxes could go as high as 8.875 percent, following an increase of 0.5 percent, NY al Día spoke with several Hispanic merchants in Jackson Heights, Queens to get their impressions about the increase.

"At a time when the economic crisis has gotten so bad, people will definitely stop buying, and we're going to lose our customers," David Pablo, a salesman at an electronics equipment store, stated with certainty.

Concerned of the damage to his business due to the recession, this merchant, originally from Ecuador, also said that his store will comply with the tax payments even though they are offering goods at sale prices.

"Many believe that people who come to shop here pay us in cash and don't pay taxes, but that's not the way it is. Even though the things we sell are cheap, we pay taxes," Pablo said.

There are also merchants, however, who do not fear the increase and claim they not been affected by the recession, because of the good prices on their merchandise, and have gained customers instead of losing them. Such is the case of Javier García, a salesman in a shoe store.

"What we're selling is all priced low; actually, even though things have gone from bad to worse, people haven't stopped buying shoes," García stated. "Luckily, we haven't lost our clientele; on the contrary, we've gained customers. We're always trying to make sure our prices remain within reach of people's wallets. They're always looking for things that are cheap and not expensive," added this Mexican merchant.