Media

Readers ditch the Daily News for The Post after surprise price hike

Stacks of the Daily News collected dust on the newsstands Monday as the paper better used as fish wrap than for information socked its readers with an ambitious price hike to $1.25.

The Monday-through-Friday editions of “New York’s Hometown Snoozepaper” now cost 66 percent more in the five boroughs — a hefty sum to sift through half-baked “exclusives” and so-called investigations, readers said.

“They snuck up on everyone. Nothing was said, and then all of a sudden, they raised the price,” said Vince Gonzalez, a 52-year-old Valley Stream, LI, resident, as he bought papers at Downtown Brooklyn’s MetroTech Center.

The Post, as usual, was flying off the rack at that kiosk and elsewhere around the city.

Gonzalez said he had regularly bought both The Post and Daily News — but not anymore.

“I’d [now] only buy it [the Daily News] in an emergency,” he said.

“From now on, I’m on The Post bandwagon.”

Mike Hager, a customer-service rep from Red Bank, NJ, said Mort Zuckerman’s rag “wouldn’t be worth $1.25 if the Yankees won the World Series!”

Michael Maxwell, a 60-year-old correction officer from Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, said he was already a bigger fan of The Post because of its superior sports section.

“They’re trying to compete with The Post,” Maxwell said. “The News can’t compete with The Post when it comes to sports.”

Other former News readers vented their frustration on Twitter.

“Went to pick up a NY Daily News paper. Dropped my .75 and the guy tells me it’s now 1.25. The hell with that!” wrote Derrick Mullen.

Economist Leigh Caldwell, author of “The Psychology of Price,” thinks the city’s inferior tabloid bit off more than anyone will chew.

“I’d say that such a big jump all at once is probably too much — unless it is presented cleverly and is part of a relaunch,” he said.

“This may lead readers to switch to a competitor paper if the other one remains [at or] under a dollar,” Caldwell said, referring to The Post.

A Post spokesman said on Monday, “The Post is not considering increasing its price.”

A Daily News spokesman would not respond to a request for comment.