Well said, Tom - thank you.
In reading through this thread, I traced back to the funny doughnut that the girl left behind. Walter's product (be it "legit" or not, as defined by a passionate member) has great crust. It must be that, not withstanding that Walter hails from NJ, that a great NY Style pizza can be had with a great tasting crust.
That is my preference - if I am going to eat a pizza that is NY Style, it is better with a great crust than with a crust that is not very tasty in its own right. If it is not legit, by the standard that one member is advancing, then I do not care. Striving to achieve something that is not as good because it better meets some definition is not something that is worth spending time on.
When I have a NY Style pizza, it triggers my positive (or not) memories and I can assess if it is like the good pizza from "back home and back when." Beyond that, it becomes uninteresting and/or not helpful (if not destructive) to debate legitimacy to the point of it becoming a near-religious argument (e.g. "sacred").
I also do not care if my pizza is made by an Albanian or any other immigrant. NY is famous for being the ever-evolving and changing ethnic/geographic/religious mix that it is and has been. We are all transplants, even the hipsters and midwesterners. I care about the product, not the ethnicity or background of the owner or cook.
I do not eat much NY Style pizza anymore. It (as I think about it) is mostly not available in these parts and I enjoy making different types and evolving my own type. As Tom described, different styes (or "gasp", variations within a style) can be a positive.
If others wish to pursue a nirvana of a NY Style slice with specific attributes so that it can gain the stamp of "legit", that is fine with me. But, the debate about "legit vs. not legit" sometimes looks like a goal unto itself as opposed to a means to an end. Go there if you like. Not for me nor do I think it needs to be imposed on others.