How the Slice Joint Made Pizza the Perfect New York City Food

Getting pizza and hanging about on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. Aug. 2, 1963.
"Pizza can be a great divider in New York. In fact, one of the easiest ways to get into argument (without end) is to name a 'best pizza in the city.' But at the same time, pizza — specifically the reheated, foldable, portable slice — is one of the city’s great uniters. There is no culinary experience that New Yorkers share more widely and more unanimously than the slice joint. Like catching a sunset over the skyline or stepping in an icy curbside puddle, the slice joint has, since its beginnings more than 50 years ago, become common currency. The price has changed over the decades, but the scene and staging remain much the same. ... 'Three dollars,' the pizza man says briskly, after he has placed the requested slice into a decked oven. Out come the hot, bubbling triangles of cheese and sauce on thin, pliable crust. Once their slices are ready, the diners — if so formal a word even applies — grab a place at the counter in the window or push out the door, slice in hand, on to wherever the evening may take them. This is the 'New York style.' ..."
NY Times

A kosher pizza shop on 13th Avenue in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn. Feb. 21, 1971.

2014 June: Pizza, 2014 October: Viva La Pizza! The Art of the Pizza Box (NYC), 2016 July: Q&A: Antoinette Balzano and Cookie Cimineri of Totonno’s, 2017 September: The Pizza Show, 2017 November: A Priceless Pizzeria in Brooklyn, 2018 December: State of the Slice, Part 2: The 27 Pizza Spots That Define New York Slice Culture