TOM CRUISE SPOILING SURI?

Holmes and Suri cabbed it in NYC on July 25
(Jackson Lee/Splash News)

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' marital status wasn't the only thing that changed when they signed their divorce agreement earlier this month. The lavish lifestyle of their daughter, Suri, has undergone a radical overhaul. Now that Suri is living with her mother in New York City on a full-time basis, the 6-year-old is being introduced to such things as — gasp! — taxi cabs, instead of chauffeur-driven cars, and commercial airlines, instead of private jets. It's a whole new world for the pampered tot.

What's become apparent in just a few weeks is the drastically different parenting styles Cruise and Holmes appear to have based on Suri's latest outings with her famous parents. By all accounts, Holmes was happy to be free from her over-the-top extravagant life with Cruise, in which household employees catered to her every whim. So Holmes is building a new life for her and her daughter, having moved into a new, three-bedroom apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan where rents range from $10,000 to $12,000 a month.

 And while that isn't exactly chump change, it's a departure from Cruise's $35 million Beverly Hills home, which is 10,000-sq.-ft. with 7 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms, as well as tennis courts and a pool.

The price tag for Holmes and Suri's day at the  Central Park Zoo? $31. (Jackson Lee/Splash News)

Holmes — who has been focusing on her fashion line, Holmes & Yang, and has signed on to star in the Broadway play "Dead Accounts" this fall — has been seen on some pretty typical mother/daughter adventures with Suri in the Big Apple. On Wednesday, Holmes and Suri — who have always been seen climbing into chauffeured SUVs with security detail — were photographed getting into a New York City taxi cab, sans bodyguards, after enjoying ice cream cones. This followed their weekend trip to visit Holmes' family in Ohio during which they flew coach, instead of their pre-divorce mode of transportation: private plane.

Doting dad Cruise carried Suri from their
chauffeur-driven SUV into his hotel (Splash News)

 They have also visited the Children's Museum of the Arts, where admission is $10 a person, the Central Park Zoo, which costs $31 for an adult and child, and they have been seen doing their own grocery shopping at their local Whole Foods.

And we'll also point out that mini-fashionista Suri, who has stepped out in some high-price designer outfits through the years (remember her $850 Salvatore Ferragamo "Sofia" handbag?), was seen wearing the same outfit during her Children's Museum trip on July 6 as she was on July 20 while strolling with her mother on a rainy day. The skirt is currently on sale at J. Crew for $14.99.

Meanwhile, when Suri reunited with Cruise for the first time since the divorce filing, it was a VIP affair. The movie star and his little girl took a $6,200 helicopter ride to tony East Hampton, New York, where they spent the day at the beach. According to a tabloid report, Cruise "made up for lost time with more than $170,000 worth of extravagant gifts, lavish buffets of her favorite foods at their five-star hotel, and a round-trip helicopter ride." Their time together was decidedly more lavish than Cruise's typical father/child bonding time with his older children, Connor and Isabella. While rarely seen with his eldest daughter, Cruise and Connor usually enjoy low-key outings at Lakers game, though courtside seats aren't cheap either.

The next day, they took a $6,200 helicopter ride to
 Long Island, NY for a beach adventure (Splash News)

According to a report in the U.K.'s Reveal magazine, Cruise was the parent who often indulged his daughter, allowing her to dress how she pleased, including makeup and high heels, and now Holmes is putting the kibosh on that. Holmes has previously talked about "keeping a daily schedule" for Suri, telling Marie Claire, "We wake up and do the same thing. She does her chores. I think it's very important." Holmes has also said, "I try to do what my mom did for me. Just spending time with her, making doll clothes, and planting in the garden."

It seems like a whole new world for Suri … but we won't believe she's truly become an average New York City kid until we see a photo of her with her mom riding a crowded subway during rush hour.