The Hungry Cabbie Eats The Outer Boroughs: New Park Pizzeria

Since I’ve dubbed myself The Hungry Cabbie, I thought my first post as Gothamist’s outer borough food correspondent should be about a classic eating institution that absolutely every cabbie should know: New Park Pizzeria.

It lies directly beneath the flight path into JFK Airport in the proud, old Italian neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens. Unfortunately, the neighborhood is not known for being a particularly inviting place to outsiders thanks to a white mob that lynched a black man 2 decades ago. And knuckleheads like Fat Nick Minucci, who went to trial this week for racially slurring a black man before he allegedly cracked his skull with a baseball bat (he also beat a turbaned Sikh man as the towers burned on September 11), don’t help much either. Howard Beach is referred to more often as an “enclave” than a neighborhood as though it is a UN Compound amidst a raging third world genocide. It might be the only section of the city in which it makes sense that the locals buy their tacos and shish kabobs from a place called Vito’s.

But don’t let wretched things like race riots and hate crimes deter you. New Park Pizza is fifty years old this year, and it is well worth an intrepid journey into the enclave. A slice from New Park is full of old-fashioned New York flavor. The light and chewy crust is charred just enough, and the cheese is plentiful but not overwhelming. The star of a New Park experience, however, is clearly the tomato sauce. It is tangy like a good sauce should be, yet it retains a slight hint of sweetness which gives the slice an addictive quality that has me driving miles out of my way at least once a week for a fix.

The grumpy pizza guys at New Park offer a Sicilian slice too, but mostly they stick to what they know best, and that is the classic New York thin crust cheese slice. If you ask them nicely, they’ll throw some pepperoni on there. And if you ask your cabbie nicely, maybe he’ll pull off the Belt Parkway or the Conduit on the way out to JFK and grab a slice with you. If I were your cabbie, I know I would.

New Park Pizzeria, 15671 Crossbay Blvd., Howard Beach, Queens

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Dave Freedenberg on May 31, 2006 3:05 PM

Comments [rss]

guest

Oh please. We are always going to have yahoos and yoyos bent on ethnic cleansing and they are always going to do idiotic things like beating up people. But I think we All Do Come Together as New Yorkers when it comes to our pizza. I travel (by car, yes) from Brooklyn to have my slice or two at New Park. You can forget Di Faras on Ave. J (aol's fave) which I find no great shakes and the wait there is eternal. You'd think Brooklyn would be the place for pizza but New Park is the best I've ever had. It's no frills pizza, regular or square. I don't think I have even seen a mushroom there !!!! I don't even think they do heros. The guys who work there are way too busy sweating and toiling away to get the much demanded pizza in your hands to be racist. They just want to be paid as you can tell from the tip jars on the counter.

Sten76684

I've just been staying at home waiting for something to happen. Whatever. Not much on my mind lately. I guess it doesn't bother me.

Sten72496

I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.

ex-howard-beacher

as a kid and young adult we used to go bowling, then accross the street to get a slice a pizza. that was many many pizza's ago.. My thoughts still go back to New Park's pizza..

The Other Coaster

No, the owners are not racist, I use to work there a long while back and they are nice people. The people they employ are a bit thick in the brain sometimes (including myself when i was working there) but the Pizza is the best in the city. I'm trapped on the west coast for now, but i drool every time I think of their pizza. And the Sicilian slices are so good i can't even put it into words. Someone send me some now!!!

anon

the picture of the pizza haunts me. It's burnt edge makes me lust and yearn. it's vision revisted me during my routine, routine, routine commute home. It is my untouchable celebrity.

sk2boi

yes, get a grip,

you'll need a good grip on aluminum bats to take them homerun swings to people's heads.

oh, anybody know where in Howard Beach to get a deal on a set of wheels?

roberta bear

Whoa! I had to read this over to try to figure out what caused the storm. Why are people assuming the owners of the restaurant are racists? The neighborhood has a history; New Park, as far as I can tell from reading the review, is just a place for a good slice. I don't think the Hungry Cabbie is recommending Howard Beach for your next summer vacation. Get a grip!

aflleak

if it looks like a duck,

quacks like a duck,

it's a duck,

moore stood up to fat nick today in court.

watevabehindclosedoors

you believe what you want to believe,

if you're going to HB be careful.

be especially careful if you're looking to buy a car.

Famous Fat Dave / The Hungry C

Everyone,

Thank you for your insightful comments on New York race relations. I found parts of this discussion enlightening.

Toniprovalone: Yes they serve black people. The guys at New Park aren't the ones accused of hate crimes.

Intheyear1984: I would not say it is Dinkins time. New York just passed San Diego as the safest of the 25 biggest cities in America.

Wootang: I know who you are. Eat some Helena's Hawiian Food for me.

Skip: It is illegal for NYC Yellow Cabbies to talk on their cell phones INCLUDING hands free devices. If you really want them to shut up, ask them nicely. If they don't, tell them you have their hack number and you will report them to the Taxi and Limo Commish.

~THC

loandbehold

The Howard beach trial is set for today.

celebrate by eating a slice.

skip

Hey, cabbie, what language is that you're speaking? Sounds curiously like English to me.

What country are you from? And what can I do about the cabbies who insist on yakking on their cells loudly during my cab ride home?

WooTang

Frankly I appreciate this review. Anyone can review a slice of pizza but not everyone describes the ambiance and history of a restaurnt so conscisely (albeit sardonicly too). Now I know what to expect before going there for the first time - a service that only a well-traveled cabby can provide. Also a poignant example of the ups and downs of resisting the melting pot of NYC.

jenna terrorcon

as soon as I got off the staten Island ferry to get a slice at A&S i got accosted in front of St. George's library by some black kids. DAmn. can't even go to the library and get a slice before they gotta say some shit.

mydingaling

i think you mean the ching a lings.

never heard of "true assasins" or even the assasins.

then you got the urban bikers, the off shoot of what you see on the fast and the furious types.

more into the sport bikes not HD's.

Sloane

I'm brown, too, and I've eaten there many times. It is BY FAR the best slice I have EVER had. I am drooling right now thinking about it even though I've just eaten a ginormous burrito. But seriously, I have not encountered any OUTWARD racists there, but who knows what they were thinking. We also saw a group of not-so-friendly looking black bikers out front wearing matching leather jackets that said something like "True Assassins". They seemed comfortable there. Can't imagine why.

in the year 1984

I guess what some of the posts on gothamist are true,

it is dinkins time,

first the wilding story and now howard beach.

feehowardbch

what if i don't have a car or access to one like THC?

can i go to HB and find a car to buy?

any good deals there? i heard some can cost an arm and a leg.