The economic crisis could claim neighborhood bodegas as its next victim.

Some owners of the corner grocery stores say they are having a hard time making ends meet.

Ramon Murphy, the president of the U.S. Bodega Association, says rising rents, higher energy costs and more expensive products are pushing bodega owners out of business.

"The only way we are surviving right now is going everyday and turn-over, because we don't have the money to buy for the whole week like we used to do," said Murphy.

The U.S. Bodega Association reports about four shops close each month. At that rate, they say there could be half as many bodegas in the city within two years.