How long did you live in NY?
Before 9/11, there was a Ray’s down in South Ferry in Manhattan. It was the real deal. We’d go into the city, get hammered, come back, pour ourselves onto the Governor’s Island ferry, and then stumble back to our places. There was one time a friend of mine fell asleep and just rode back and forth on the ferry till morning. You can’t get on without an ID, and the ferry workers were OK with it, so he didn’t get in trouble.
$2 a slice. Six slices a pie. You fold them up and eat them. Use a napkin, because the oil leaks out of the crease. The best. Absolute best. Uptown were the pretenders, and their pie was not up to scratch.
I worked on a cruise ship in 2005, as a musician. We went to St. Petersburg in Russia about 7 times and it was a fascinating place, otherwordly.
I was able to wander around the city, which tourists are generally not permitted to do. In order to do that, you need to have purchased a “Bahamian Seamen’s Book” which is a little booklet like a passport in size and in function. If you have that book, you can wander around. If you don’t, you must stay with organized groups. So I went into a Sbarro pizzeria for a snack and I folded the pizza, NY style, and started eating it. The ENTIRE restaurant stopped in mid bite and started staring at me. Apparently, the “NY fold” is not acceptable behavior in Russia.