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A New York City bar owner with a full tank of gripes is selling a gallon of beer for the price of a gallon of gas — an effort to protest the Biden administration’s failure fueling historic inflation.
Patrick Hughes, owner of Scruffy Duffy's on Tenth Avenue in Manhattan, also hopes to raise awareness around the challenges that continue to devastate America's small-business owners.
"It’s just our way of calling attention to the insanity of inflation right now, especially gas prices," Hughes, a NYC pub owner for 32 years, told Fox News Digital.
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"Gas prices have just been absurd, as well as the food prices," he said. "As well as the labor prices."
The gallons of beer at Scruffy Duffy's are poured from the tap into a red plastic gas can, the same container you find for emergency fill-ups at the local service station. (On Friday, he was selling Miller Genuine Draft.)
Longtime New York City businessman Patrick Hughes, owner of Scruffy Duffy's on Tenth Avenue in Manhattan, is protesting the Biden administration's failure on inflation by selling gallons of beer for the price of a gallon of gas. (Kerry J. Byrne / Fox News)
The price of a gallon of beer at Scruffy Duffy's changes daily, reflecting the cost of a gallon of premium gas that day a few blocks up the road at a local — and notoriously expensive — Midtown Mobil station.
That price on Friday was $7.29 per gallon, posted on a tote board behind the bar complete with gas station imagery.
"Sure, it’s a gimmick," said Hughes, who has been a bar owner in New York City for 32 years.
New York City is home to some of the highest gas prices in the nation.
"But everything coming out of this administration feels like a gimmick," he said.
"Their domestic energy policy is ridiculous. It’s absurd. It’s killing small business owners. It's killing hard-working Americans."
Scruffy Duffy's in Midtown Manhattan is selling gallons of beer for the same price of a gallon of premium gas at a nearby service station — up to $7.49 one day in early July. (Kerry J. Byrne / Fox News)
New York City is home to some of the highest gas prices in the nation.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas cost $4.78 on Friday, according to the AAA.
That’s down from the record high of $5.21 set one month ago, but still a shocking 45% increase over the $3.29 per gallon New Yorkers paid for gas in July 2021.
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The nationwide average of a gallon of regular on Friday was $4.58, up 45% from the $3.16 Americans paid for gas a year ago, and a shocking 117% increase over the $2.11 per gallon the day Joe Biden was elected president on Nov. 3, 2020.
Patrick Hughes, owner of Scruffy Duffy's in Manhattan, is protesting the soaring cost of energy, food and labor by selling gallons of beer for the price of a gallon of gas. "Sure, it's a gimmick," he said. (Kerry J. Byrne / Fox News)
There is a catch to the gallon-beer deal at Scruffy Duffy’s.
Local ordinances prohibit patrons from purchasing 128 ounces of beer by themselves — the equivalent of eight traditional 16-ounce pints.
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So the gallon of golden lager must be split four ways — plus, each guest must purchase an appetizer or other food item.
"Now food is so expensive we have to give away beer to get people to come in and buy wings."
"In the good old days, we had to give away wings to entice people to come in to by beer," said Hughes. "Now food is so expensive we have to give away beer to get people to come in and buy wings."
Hughes has a history of generating headlines with clever promotions.
His offer to sell his two Manhattan pubs for Bitcoin in 2021 exploded into an international story. The deal never materialized after the bottom fell out of the crypto-currency market.