NEW YORK, NY June 03, 2008 —If you're a smoker, get ready for some sticker shock today. The cost of a pack of cigarettes is going up by $1.25, thanks to a state tax hike. That means the cost of a pack of cigarettes will be around $8.50.

Robin Gross of Long Island says that's news to her.

GROSS: Really, I'm speechless, I don't know what to say. I didn't realize it's going up...this might be a reason to reconsider the quitting option. I really am shocked.

REPORTER: The city is betting that the high cost of a pack will be the reason many New Yorkers need to kick the habit. Free nicotine patches will be distributed today by the Health Department throughout the five boroughs to coincide with the tax increase.

Jed Patel owns a Lower Manhattan convenience store. About half of his merchandise is cigarettes or smoking related items. He says before the tax hike his sales went up a bit, but many of his customers told him they would soon be non-smokers.

PATEL: They're talking about quitting, they're talking about stop smoking, so it's gonna hurt our business. That's what's gonna happen.

REPORTER: Patel says he plans on selling more soda and magazines and phasing out some of the tobacco products that he offers.