Short answer
New York style pizza is a large hand-tossed pie with a thin, chewy crust, a light layer of cooked tomato sauce and low-moisture mozzarella, sold in wide slices that are folded in half to eat. The crisp-but-flexible crust is the defining feature.
New York style pizza is a large, hand-tossed pie with a thin, chewy crust, a light layer of cooked tomato sauce and low-moisture mozzarella, cut into wide slices that people fold in half to eat. The crust bends without cracking and carries a slight char and crisp underside from a very hot oven.
What is New York style pizza?
New York style pizza is the wide, thin-crust pizza sold by the slice in New York City, built on a high-gluten dough, a simple tomato sauce and shredded low-moisture mozzarella. The pie is usually 16 to 18 inches across and cut into eight triangles.
The style grew out of the Italian-American pizzerias of the early twentieth century. Its details are debated, including which shop made the first pie in the city, so it is safest to say the style developed in New York over several decades rather than naming one inventor.
What sets it apart is balance. The crust is thin enough to fold but has enough chew to hold the toppings, the sauce is thin and lightly seasoned, and the cheese is melted to a bubbly, lightly browned layer.
What defines the crust, sauce and cheese?
Three things define the style: a chewy crust, a plain tomato sauce and low-moisture mozzarella. Everything else is optional.
- Crust: made from bread flour or high-gluten flour, water, yeast, salt and a little oil or sugar. The dough is stretched or tossed by hand rather than rolled, which leaves an edge that puffs a little and a center that stays thin.
- Sauce: crushed or pureed tomatoes with salt, a little oil and sometimes oregano or garlic. It is applied sparingly so the crust stays crisp.
- Cheese: shredded low-moisture mozzarella. It melts evenly, browns well and releases less water than fresh mozzarella.
Some bakers add a sprinkle of grated hard cheese or dried oregano after baking. Those are personal touches, not requirements of the style.
Why do people fold a New York slice?
People fold a New York slice because the wide, thin tip bends downward under its own weight. Folding the slice lengthwise along its center stiffens it, so it can be held in one hand without the cheese and oil sliding off.
To fold it, pinch the crust edges together so the slice forms a shallow trough, then bring the sides inward and eat from the point. A good crust bends without cracking. If the crust is too stiff it snaps, and if it is too soft it flops, so the fold is a quick test of the dough.
How is New York style pizza made?
New York style pizza is made by mixing a dough with high-gluten flour, letting it ferment, stretching it by hand, topping it lightly and baking it in a very hot deck oven. The steps are straightforward but timing matters.
- Mix flour, water, salt, yeast and a little oil into a smooth dough.
- Let the dough ferment, often cold in the refrigerator for a day or more, which develops flavor and makes it easier to stretch.
- Divide the dough into balls and let them come to room temperature.
- Stretch or toss each ball into a wide round with a slightly thicker edge.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce, then add the shredded mozzarella.
- Bake on a hot stone or steel deck until the underside is crisp and the cheese is bubbling and spotted brown.
Commercial pizzerias in New York typically use gas deck ovens that run hotter than a home oven. At home, a preheated baking steel or stone, set as hot as the oven allows, comes closest.
How is New York style different from other pizza styles?
New York style is thinner and wider than Chicago deep dish and Sicilian pizza, and it is larger and chewier than Neapolitan pizza. The table below compares the main points.
| Style | Crust | Cheese | Typical serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Thin, chewy, foldable | Low-moisture mozzarella | Wide slice, folded |
| Neapolitan | Soft, puffy edge, wet center | Fresh mozzarella | Whole personal pie |
| Sicilian | Thick, spongy, pan-baked | Mozzarella, sauce often on top | Square piece |
| Chicago deep dish | Tall, buttery, pan-baked | Layers of mozzarella | Knife-and-fork slice |
Neapolitan pizza is baked for about a minute or two in an extremely hot wood-fired oven, so its center is soft and its edge blistered. New York pizza spends longer in a cooler oven, which is why it is crisper and easier to carry.
How do you order a slice in New York?
You order a plain slice by walking up to the counter and asking for a slice, or a cheese slice. The staff reheat it in the oven for a short time and hand it over on a paper plate.
- A plain or cheese slice is the default.
- Extra toppings are added on request, or you can ask for a whole pie.
- Many shops fold the slice for you or give you a stack of napkins and let you do it.
- A second pass in the oven is what gives the base its crispness.
Dried oregano, red pepper flakes and grated hard cheese are common table seasonings.
What toppings and extras are common?
The most common New York toppings are plain cheese first, then a short list of vegetables and a few salty extras. Plain remains the benchmark, and many shops build the rest of the menu around it.
- Sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers
- Black olives and green peppers
- Extra mozzarella or a white pie with ricotta and garlic instead of red sauce
- Anchovies, an old-fashioned salty topping
- Fresh basil on a margherita-style pie
Slices are sold hot from the oven, and a customer who wants a topping that is not on a ready pie usually waits for a fresh one or buys a whole pie. Toppings are kept light so the thin crust is not weighed down.
What are the common mistakes when making New York style pizza at home?
The usual mistakes are an oven that is not hot enough, too much sauce and cheese, and dough that is rolled instead of stretched. Each one pushes the pie toward a soggy, pale or dense result.
- Cool oven: preheat the baking surface for at least 45 minutes at the highest setting.
- Heavy toppings: a thin crust cannot carry a thick blanket of sauce and cheese.
- Rolling pin: it flattens the air out of the rim and gives a cracker-like edge.
- Cold dough: dough straight from the refrigerator fights stretching and bakes unevenly.
Fixing these four points does more for a home pie than any change in the recipe.
Where does Fascati Pizzeria fit in?
Fascati Pizzeria in Brooklyn Heights is a counter-service shop that Google Maps describes as selling thin-crust, New York-style pizza by the slice, plus heros and Italian plates. The recorded menu lists a plain slice, pizza by the slice, a whole pizza and an anchovy slice.
Prices are not published, so ask in the shop. Sources disagree on whether the shop takes cards, so bring cash to be safe. See the menu page for what is recorded and the hours and location page before you go. This guide is independent and takes no orders.
Common questions
Why do people fold New York pizza?
The slice is wide and thin, so the tip droops under its own weight. Folding it lengthwise makes it rigid, keeps the cheese and oil from sliding off, and lets you eat it with one hand while walking.
What cheese is used on New York style pizza?
Low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, usually shredded. It melts evenly and browns without releasing much water, which keeps the thin crust from turning soggy. Fresh mozzarella is more typical of Neapolitan pizza.
How big is a New York slice?
A pie is commonly 16 to 18 inches across and cut into eight slices, so a single slice is large, roughly the length of a hand or more. Some shops sell smaller pies, but the wide slice is the signature.
Is New York style pizza the same as thin crust?
Not exactly. New York pizza is thin but also chewy and foldable, made from a high-gluten dough. Cracker-style thin crust is crisp all the way through and is cut into squares, which is a different style.
What is a plain slice in New York?
A plain slice, also called a cheese slice, is just crust, tomato sauce and mozzarella with no extra toppings. It is the standard order and the way many New Yorkers judge a pizzeria.
This page is part of the independent guide to Fascati Pizzeria, which has the address, hours and menu.
This article is general information from an independent guide, not from Fascati Pizzeria itself. For the store’s current details see hours and location.