In planning Pizza: A Slice of Heaven, I originally envisioned a chapter on "beach pizza," for pizzerias found along the boardwalk in places such as Ocean City and Atlantic City in New Jersey, and Rehobeth, Delaware. I eventually nixed the idea because my research revealed that most beach pizza is pretty awful (there are exceptions along the Jersey Shore that are written about elsewhere in the book). Another exception that I had to include is New Park Pizzeria, located in Howard Beach, Queens, right next to Kennedy Airport.
New Park Pizzeria is the paradigm of a beach pizza joint. You order at the counter and take your slices to the outdoor eating patio in front of the restaurant. There's a small heated room in the back where people eat their pizza in cold weather. The guys behind the counter are invariably teenagers from the 'hood, and they wear their baseball caps backward, but don't be alarmed; they're reasonably friendly. The pizza comes out of a super-hot gas oven that produces charred-on-the-bottom, crisp-crusted slices topped with just a little too much good commercial mozzarella.
New Park Pizzeria
Address: 156-71 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach NY (at the corner of 157th Street; map) Phone: 718-641-3082
Note: Many people know New Park Pizzeria as the scene of a really ugly racial incident in December 1986, when four black men came to the pizzeria looking for a phone to call a service station because their car had broken down. They were chased out of the pizzeria by a group of white teenagers and beaten with baseball bats and a tree limb. They ran onto the nearby Shore Parkway, where one of them was killed by a passing car. That was years ago, and though I don't think the NAACP is holding any meetings in Howard Beach, nobody working in the pizzeria was ever accused of any wrongdoing.
Favorite Pizza? Let's just say we're lucky to be living in NY where you can virtually go to any corner and find a decent slice. New Park Pizza is a classic, it's the old school pizza - nothing else. It's your typical pizzeria that serves classic pizza. No fancy toppings, no fancy menus. The pizza has a distinct taste to it which in my opinion is good. You cannot argue with "old-school" pizza - it is what it is and it's a classic! La Villa pizza is the fancy pizza, they're regular pizza is just ok, the place serves good food but is very pricey, if I had to choose their best pizza? It would be the thin crust grandma "nonna" pie. Really tasteful but far from the classic NY style classic pizza.
I disagree that you can get good pizza on any corner in New York City. That might have been the case forty years ago, but most pizza in New York today is really horrible. New Park is certainly an exception. The pizzas are a little bit inconsistent - some charred, some undercooked and the balance of sauce to cheese varies as well, but I find their pizza to be incredibly tasty -- the sauce is especially good -- it has just the proper amount of spice and "bite" to it.
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In planning Pizza: A Slice of Heaven, I originally envisioned a chapter on "beach pizza," for pizzerias found along the boardwalk in places such as Ocean City and Atlantic City in New Jersey, and Rehobeth, Delaware. I eventually nixed the idea because my research revealed that most beach pizza is pretty awful (there are exceptions along the Jersey Shore that are written about elsewhere in the book). Another exception that I had to include is New Park Pizzeria, located in Howard Beach, Queens, right next to Kennedy Airport. 
3 Comments:
Favorite Pizza? Let's just say we're lucky to be living in NY where you can virtually go to any corner and find a decent slice. New Park Pizza is a classic, it's the old school pizza - nothing else. It's your typical pizzeria that serves classic pizza. No fancy toppings, no fancy menus. The pizza has a distinct taste to it which in my opinion is good. You cannot argue with "old-school" pizza - it is what it is and it's a classic! La Villa pizza is the fancy pizza, they're regular pizza is just ok, the place serves good food but is very pricey, if I had to choose their best pizza? It would be the thin crust grandma "nonna" pie. Really tasteful but far from the classic NY style classic pizza.
Hungry_Man at 8:33AM on 03/13/09
New Park Pizza has the best slice in the city. Period.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 8:16PM on 03/13/09
I disagree that you can get good pizza on any corner in New York City. That might have been the case forty years ago, but most pizza in New York today is really horrible. New Park is certainly an exception. The pizzas are a little bit inconsistent - some charred, some undercooked and the balance of sauce to cheese varies as well, but I find their pizza to be incredibly tasty -- the sauce is especially good -- it has just the proper amount of spice and "bite" to it.
ZoetMB at 2:47PM on 07/31/09