Pizza Today - July 2022 - 14

MAN ON THE STREET SCO TT WIENER
until Patsy's (now called Grimaldi's)
opened under the Brooklyn Bridge in
1990. Th at's when rumors swirled about
coal ovens being illegal, that one must
have been built before restrictive laws in
order to be " grandfathered in " for use.
While it's entirely legal to build a coalburning
oven today, most business owners
don't want to deal with the confusing
regulations of the Department of Buildings
and the fi re commissioner. Building
owners fi nd the old ovens to be more of
a liability than an asset. Th ey can make
much more money by ripping out the old
structures and enhancing their buildings'
living spaces. When a coal-fi red pizzeria
closes, the oven's fate is sealed.
Just a couple months ago, a worst
Losing NYC's Coal Burning Ovens
W
e've all had that moment when
it feels like the rug has been
pulled out from beneath our
feet. It happened to me last week in the
form of a text message: " Luzzo's has
closed. " Besides having some excellent
pizza and a staff that had been there for
decades, Luzzo's used one of the few
remaining coal-burning ovens in New
York City. Since Luzzo's didn't own the
building (it's extremely rare to fi nd pizzerias
that do), the fate of the oven remains
in the hands of an East Village landlord.
So it's essentially doomed.
New York's coal-burning ovens have
become things of legend. Th ey were
the fi rst ovens used for American pizza
making in the early 1900s because coal
was cheaper than wood. Since coal needs
a constant fl ow of oxygen to burn, the
ovens have to be built in a way that takes
up lots of space. Th e oldest ones are built
directly into the foundation of the building
or as extensions from the fi rst fl oor.
Once natural gas became available
in the 1930s, owners retrofi tted their
coal-burning ovens with fl ame throwers.
When the stainless steel pizza ovens
entered the picture in the 1940s, coalfi
red ovens became relics. After Arturo's
opened on MacDougal Street in 1957,
there were no new coal-fi red pizzerias
case scenario played out in Little Italy.
Lombardi's paid rent on two neighboring
properties, one at 32 and the other at
30 Spring Street. Th e pandemic crippled
their business, so they decided to step
away from one of the two leases and
shrink the restaurant. Th ey chose to ditch
32 Spring Street, which just so happened
to house an old coal oven built in the
1910s. Lombardi's moved to this space in
1994 specifi cally because of the old oven
and within a year of them relinquishing
the lease, the building was sold and the
new owner demolished it. It's gone. Every
last brick.
Coal-fi red ovens represent the earliest
version of pizza in the United States. On
one hand, we see chains like Grimaldi's
and Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
spreading the gospel with new locations.
On the other, we're losing the physical
pieces of history that connect the present
with the past. Change is inevitable,
especially in the face of an industry that's
embracing the effi ciency and quality of
new technology. Still, I think it's important
to respect history and it makes me
feel helpless to witness the loss of such
beautiful pieces of our industry's past.
SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott's Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org Instagram: @scottspizzatours
14 / PIZZATODAY.COM / JULY 2022

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Pizza Today - July 2022

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