Cranky,
Wow, I didn’t know at one time you were one of the bravest and what they called the “finest” people of NY.
For accuracy's sake, the NYC cops are called the Finest and the firemen are the Bravest. I can tell lots of stories. It was a great adventure. When you are in the middle of it you don't realize how unique the situation is, running the streets day and night in the Big Apple, doing things that can't be captured in movies. I saw some very amazing acts of bravery, comedy and tragedy. It was one chapter in life that is now past, until I come upon a car wreck, or fire and I feel 21 again.
Since you lived in NY awhile ago, do you remember anything about how pizzas were made then? Were they made with fresh yeast? I think commercial yeast just came into existence not too many years ago for making pizzas.
Sorry, I was a pizza eater then, not a maker. I do remember enjoying watching the pizzas be made.
I also wonder how you remember previous pizzas, from the time you lived in NY.
Are you kidding? I can still taste them.
Do you remember what the best pizzerias were to buy pizzas when you lived in NYC?
I grew up on Staten Island in the 50s. There was no bad pizza then. It was all NY style. I remember Deninos, Polizanos, Joe and Pats, Nunzios, The Surf Club, Pal Joeys, on SI. There was a guy named Benny who had a few places. He was always moving. His final place was in Stapleton on Broad Street or Canal. He did not even have a sign outside. In Brooklyn it was Queen Pizza near Borrough Hall, and a place in Bay Ridge that was great and a guy in Coney Island who had a coal fired oven. In Manhatten it was Goldfarb's (no kidding). But there were lots of good places.
Here is an FDNY pizza story. One night we were returning from a fire. I worked in Man. The Lieutenant wanted a pizza from a place in Bklyn near where he used to work. He had us drive over the Bklyn Bridge, breaking all regulations, figuring if there was a fire we would hear it on the radio. We got in an accident with a beer truck and it was our fault. The driver was a fireman from NJ moonlighting. He said if the cops came and filed a report he would be fired. We went back to the firehouse and spray painted the bumper.
