It’s the Upper East Side premium — groceries cost nickels and dimes more than items sold just across Central Park.
The East 86th Street Fairway Market charges customers more than at the chain’s Upper West Side location, even though the shops are just two miles apart.
A can of Crown Prince smoked salmon is $6.99 — 70 cents more than at the Fairway on Broadway and West 75th Street.
Meanwhile, a 32-ounce bottle of Heinz ketchup was $4.29, compared to $3.99 at the Broadway store, and a box of Twinings tea was $3.29 instead of the $2.99 West Side special.
Shoppers say something isn’t adding up.
“I feel cheated,” said East Side resident Charles Taylor, 39. “You really do pay a premium just to shop here, but they can get away with it because there isn’t any pushback.”
Nina Zakin, 56, hoped the sneaky sticker prices were mistakes.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Zakin said. “Both stores are in equivalent socioeconomic areas.”
The East Side is immortalized for its swank but only has a slim lead on rent and household income.
In April, the average one-bedroom in a doorman building went for $3,639 a month — compared to $3,610 on the West Side, according to a report by MNS real-estate group.
And East Side households had an average income of $98,194, about $5,600 more than West Siders, data from a 2011 NYU Furman Center report show.
Fairway Markets wouldn’t comment on the Upper East Side premium. But a source with knowledge of the East Side store’s operations copped to the unpalatable prices.
“It’s more expensive to do business on the Upper East Side,” the insider said. “That’s why there’s some discrepancy in price, but . . . we’re much cheaper than the local competition.”
He guessed some of the markups were errors — such as the $6.99 salmon — but many are the result of higher rent and delivery costs.
Distributors drop the store’s merchandise at other Fairway locations first because there isn’t enough room to unload on East 86th Street, he said.
Still, he admitted, “when you have 50,000 items, a few are going to be priced out of line for no reason at all.”
About a third of the Fairway groceries reviewed by The Post were dimes more on the East Side.
Ground veal was marked at $4.99 per pound — 50 cents more than on the UWS. A $3.59 jar of Prego marinara is just $2.99 on the UWS, and a $6.99 pack of Applegate yogurt cheese is $6.49.
Even beer prices were puffed up, with a sixpack of Yuengling amber lager going for $7.69. It’s 20 cents less at the Broadway location.
East Siders also pay 10 cents more for Polly-O Ricotta, Grey Poupon, Barilla pasta, and Breyer’s mint chocolate chip ice cream.
“This is typical New York,” said Rebecca Lyczko, 38, a paralegal who used to hop the bus to the West Side Fairway. “It bothers me, but it’s not enough to stop shopping there.”