The Carnegie Deli's massive sandwiches are rightfully lauded for their daunting size—the fact that the sandwich maker there, Ernesto Ramirez, can "shave off a pound of meat with a deli slicer, lay it atop a piece of rye, place the other slice of bread on top and cut it in half with a 12-inch deli knife" is all the more impressive as a result. Because that is a skill your average Joe most certainly does not have, as one reporter learned recently. more ›

The winner of the annual Carnegie Deli pickle-eating contest was crowned today, and, despite the dreary weather, champion Mike Hoffman of Farmingdale, Long Island, beamed a ray of sodium-enhanced light through the afternoon fog. more ›

Prepare your insides for a vinegar-infused attack tomorrow at the Carnegie Deli's semi-annual pickle eating contest (or just watch from the sidelines). Either way, the 20th anniversary of the competition is taking place tomorrow, in a weather-proof tent on the sidewalk in front of the famed deli, where ten contestants will line their guts with as many full sours as they can handle over the course of five minutes. Sound appetizing? You could be one of them. more ›

Joining the likes of Woody Allen, Paul Simon and Carmelo Anthony, FOX5 anchor Rosanna Scotto is getting her own sandwich at the Carnegie Deli to celebrate her 25th anniversary on air. Just make sure you ask them to hold the "soy jizzum!" more ›

Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Knicks in a blockbuster deal. While sports columnists and fans can debate whether this deal was great or stupid for years to come, there's something else they can chew on: A new "Melo Sandwich" from the Carnegie Deli. more ›

We've always preferred Katz's, but the threat of famed Carnegie Deli closing still has us a little verklempt. The deli has had a longstanding arrangement with nextdoor neighbors Woodward Affiliates, who allow Carnegie to use some of its property for extra seating and a required second emergency exit for $2,500 a month. But as the two sides were working out a new deal with the Buildings Department last week, Woodward allegedly bailed and Carnegie filed a suit. The suit claims, "The failure to obtain a public assembly permit may, and likely will, result in the closure of the Carnegie Deli." more ›

Save the Deli reported yesterday that Carnegie Deli owner Milton Parker died on Friday. He was 90-years-old. His business card once read “Milton Parker, CPM (Corned beef and pastrami maven).” The restaurant is known for making the biggest pastrami sandwich imaginable; in December, the Serious Eats Lab Team conducted a study that revealed a single Carnegie Deli sandwich could be used to make 5 normal sandwiches. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston are putting it all on the line for Sunday's Super Bowl. After winning the awful bet from Green Bay, Bloomberg has a lot more riding on the line when the Giants face off against the Patriots this weekend. As is the custom when the playoffs roll around, the mayors of the teams participating decided on a friendly food wager. The stakes, or should we say steaks, are upped in this bet as the Vince Lombardy Trophy are on the line. more ›

Ah, there's nothing like the having a local team in a championship game. That's when the mayor breaks out the big guns and bets items of food against the mayor of an opposing team's city. Mayor Bloomberg announced a friendly wager today with Green Bay Mayor James Schmitt, as the Giants and the Packers face off Sunday in the NFC Championship game. more ›

With yesterday’s innocuous New York Times review of Katz’s Deli and the news last week that the 2nd Avenue Deli will be "recreated" in Murray Hill, it seems that forces of pastrami have won some kind of cosmic victory over the over the forces of real estate; forces that threaten to destroy old-fashioned New York dining institutions. more ›

David’s Brisket House is an unlikely relic on a stretch of Nostrand Avenue mostly populated by 99 cent stores and West Indian delis. The space is narrow and dated, outfitted with mirrored walls (the sort mostly reserved for adult film sets) and ceiling tiles brown with the remnants of some ancient leak. It doesn’t have the fame of Carnegie Deli or the sprawling space and hypnotic neon glow of Katz’s. The clueless tourists and first-timers, the ones who order their pastrami with mayo (tsk) and request half sour pickles (tsk tsk), don’t come here. David’s is a place for locals and sandwich hedonists—the type who don’t mind the occasional visit from a neighborhood crazy if it means dining with the kind of mindless abandon the place requires. more ›

We're not sure why, but there's always been a special in Gothamist's heart for eating competitions. While the most famous eating contest in the world is more than a month away, there was another eating competition involving hot dogs this afternoon. In Red Hook this afternoon, Schnack held its 2nd Annual Schnack Stahl-Meyer Hot Dog Eating Contest. The six competitors on hand were each given one 30" Stahl-Meyer hot dog baked on a French bread bun from Caputo's Bakery. [Gothamist later tried a portion of the hot dog and it was quite tasty, but 30"?!? No way.] Estimated normal dog equivalent - 6-7 normal hot dogs, 2.5 foot long hot dogs. more ›

Gothamist likes its pickles, but we're not quite sure if we like them quite as much as Arnie "ChowHound" Chapman, who won Carnegie Deli's annual pickle eating competition. There's no information out there just yet about how many pickles he ate and exactly what kind. Because everyone knows that half-sour are easier to eat than those extra-sour pickles. ChowHound, who hails from Amarillo, Texas, supposedly trains by eating a head of cabbage and speed drinking a gallon of water every day. That's some serious training. Currently ranked at 24 by Speedeat (who knew), ChowHound is not affiliated with the IFOCE, but the AICE (Association of Independent Competitive Eaters). The fact that their are two rival competitive eating organizations makes Gothamist think of endless possible competitions. They can have all types of wrestling competitions - sumo, Greco-Roman, "professional", and jello (the loser would be forced to eat all the jello at the end). amNewYork has an excellent gallery of all the pickle gluttony. Note the florescent color of those shirts. Were they supposed to look like the pickles the contestants were eating or radioactive material? more ›

The trial of Kayson Pearson and Troy Hendrix, accused of torturing a woman over days and then murdering her, got crazy yesterday when Pearson stabbed his attorney as Hendrix tried to grab a gun from a court officer. Pearson used a shiv to stab Mitchell Dinnerstein in the chin when he was being taken out of the court, and the Daily News says that was the diversion for Hendrix to jump across the table and go for Sgt. James Gorra's gun. The murder victim's mother, Elle Carmichael, had testified earlier and reportedly said, "No! No! No! They're animals. They should have been killed! Why didn't the police shoot them?" Her daughter, Ramona Moore, was a student at Hunter and had been missing for weeks; Moore's body was found, disfigured from being "bashed and mangled by a hammer, saw, barbell and knife." more ›

The NY Times has a great article and slide show about crime scene clean up crews. Gothamist had been wondering about crime scene clean-up ever since the season finale of Six Feet Under (you know, one of Ruth's possible new careers), and the story revealed more nuance than just mopping up blood. Former paramedic Ronald Gospodarski started Bio-Recovery Corporation in 1998; it's the only NY-based business that does this, and it handled cleanups after the 2000 Wendy's massacre, 2001 Carnegie Deli triple homicide, anthrax contamination at the Post and ABC News, and the Norwalk virus on the cruise ship, as well as "unheralded deaths" (like a body discovered in an apartment after months). He tells the Times, "I don't care if you're black, white, rich or poor, whether you live in the projects or a penthouse, everyone smells the same when they die." And the business is seasonal: There are more indoor murdersin the winter months. more ›

A little more than a week ago, Gothamist wished that we could have sumo wrestlers walking the streets of New York. Now, with a sumo wrestling event Saturday at Madison Square Garden, Gothamist sort of got our wish. While we still don't see any pictures of giant men walking down the street, The Times does supply one image of sumo wrestlers eating at the Carnegie Deli. What did they eat? The Woody Allen, which is described as "lotsa corned beef plus lotsa pastrami" (two pounds worth, says The Times). more ›

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New York Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from the Dining Capital of the World, by Florence Fabricant (Rizzoli 2003). more ›

Gothamist was thrilled to see Law and Order's own Jerry Orbach gracing the inside cover of the newly released August issue of Bon Appetit. He mentions Judson Grill as one of his favorite NYC restaurants, (which is a shame, since it just closed) and admits that "once or twice a year, I'll indulge in a hot pastrami sandwich at the Carnegie Deli." Gothamist would happily meet up with you for your next scheduled indulgence. more ›

Learn more about what the Food and Drug Administration is up to. And check out their Office of Seafood. more ›

Bruce Bennett, Writer/Typist/Guitarist more ›