New York pizza

Hate to me too, but he's steering you toward the kind of day I would appreciate.

Yes and yes on the wicked hot chocolate and Almondine (owned by Jacques Torres). I'm not a pastries guy, but if I was, that would be the place.

I'm not a boxing guy either, but there is a lot of history in Gleason's Gym. If you head that way (there is a lot to do around there, including Brooklyn Bridge Park, so. ... ), try to imagine that neighborhood kind of desolate and that gym there. It's kind of how it was, really up until about a decade or two ago.

Another thing you can do on that side of the bridge is go in the opposite direction into Brooklyn Heights. Some of the oldest homes in NYC that date back to the 1820s, and some great architecture that is all historically preserved. It's a great neighborhood.

Honestly, there are so many nice things to do around there. For sure, go into the park and check out the views. Beyond that, hope you have a great day.

 

Excellent call.

I always group that John's with Lombardi's and Patsy's. Lombardi's in SoHo, claims it was the first pizzeria in America, somewhere around the turn of the last century. The first Patsy's was the one in Harlem, but they have a bunch of locations now (new owners expanded) and there are a couple in the village, too. When the original Patsy got out of the business and sold his name, it was what inspired Patsy Grimaldi, his nephew, to open the pizzeria in Brooklyn, which he originally called Patsy's too, and then changed to Grimaldi's because of the new owners of Patsy's.

John's on Bleecker is the best of the 3. But Lombardi's is really cool because of the history, and it's still pretty good pizza.

Another one of my dumb pizza stories, and I have no idea if it is true. But supposedly in the 1930s, the mafia would shake down restaurants and make them buy their ingredients from them. Supposedly Al Capone owned a bunch of dairy farms in Wisconsin that produced crummy cheese, and he forced all the pizzerias to buy from him. The only places that were allowed to use their own fresh mozzerella were Lombardi's, John's and Patsy's, but only if they served whole pies and not slices. Any place that served slices and didn't buy its cheese from Capone would get paid a visit. The story goes that it is why John's still says, "No Slices" on the awning out front. I have no idea if it is true, but it's a cool story.

 

It's been 20, 25 years since I was eating slices regularly at Ben's. I can't remember the last time I actually stepped foot in there. I'd characterize it as a "I am really drunk and I want to eat greasy pizza and I am OK with you reheating something that has sat there for a while" slice. But I can't say objectively that it belongs anywhere near a list of best slices in NYC. Maybe best drunk slice.