Hello, New York

— September 22, 2008 at 19:38 PDT


By way of the obligatory sorry-I-haven't-blogged-much-lately apologette, I should say that life has been busy this summer. The second biggest deal for me was, get this, moving to New York City. Yes, I know I just moved to a new place in San Francisco, and no, I haven't given up on my favorite city. It's a temporary move and I should be back in SF by the end of the year. What happened is that Pivotal Labs has opened an office in Manhattan, and I've come out to work on client projects and help get the office going. The takeaway on that is that Pivotal Labs is available for projects in New York, and we're also looking to hire top-notch Rails developers to work with us here.

The word I have to pick to describe New York is vital. That's true of the city in general, but from what I've heard it's also true of the Ruby development community. I am looking forward to getting to hang with folks here and see what I can learn from the other coast. There's a lot of Ruby developer events around here. I'm going to start with the nyc.rb hackfest tomorrow.

While I'm out here on the East Coast, I'm going to hit up some conferences. In November I'll be attending RubyConf 2008 in Orlando. Then later that month I'll be at the Voices That Matter: Professional Ruby Conference, giving a talk entitled "Ruby: Fragile or Agile?"

In the mean time, where's the best pizza in New York?

22 commentsconference, new york

Comments
  1. Geoffrey Grosenbach2008-09-22 20:36:23

    The best pizza is at...Caracas Arepa Bar!

  2. brian doll2008-09-22 20:41:33

    That sounds like a fun way to spend the fall! Where will the new office be?

    I'm equally interested in seeing the varied responses on the NY pizza front... When I lived there, Two Boots Pizza on Bleecker was much beloved. Trips back have proven it's still got it.

  3. Lar Van Der Jagt2008-09-22 22:39:00

    The best pizza in New York is in Brooklyn!

    Go to Grimaldi's in DUMBO for thin crust Neapolitan. L&B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst has amazing Sicilian.

    Totonno's & DiFara's are some other good names. Ray's in Manhattan, I can never remember which location is best though.

    If you want a guided tour, I can highly recommend the slice of Brooklyn pizza tour, run by one of my good buddies who has lived in Brooklyn his whole life and can really show you vital! Here is the link: http://asliceofbrooklyn.com/

    Welcome to NY!

  4. Sam Figueroa2008-09-22 23:09:12

    Best pizza is at 32 Spring St. in South Manhattan a infamous place called Lombardi's

  5. jonnii2008-09-22 23:15:08

    no. 28 on carmine.

    hands down.

  6. Tony Stubblebine2008-09-23 00:06:20

    I second DiFara's in Brooklyn. It's a haul to get out there and can take an hour before you get your pie, but by then you're starving and it seems even tastier. It wouldn't be a mistake to try all of the places listed above.

  7. pete2008-09-23 04:44:51

    The best pizza is an unsung hero at 110th and broadway: Koronet Pizza - get the JUMBO slice! classic ny style pizza all the way

  8. Kevin Marshall2008-09-23 06:05:24

    Hey great to hear you are spending some time on the East coast! I'm around the NYC area as well, and would love to hang if you get a chance (email me off board if you have time).

    BTW - I second the best pizza is Lombardi's (it's supposedly the place Pizza was actually invented).

  9. justin Camerer2008-09-23 06:21:33

    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sbarro+in+manhattan&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=13

    Best pizza in manhattan for SURE!

  10. Dennis Martinez2008-09-23 06:56:19

    Welcome to New York City!

    I also vouch for DiFara's, although the wait sometimes is frustratingly long. There are a ton of places in Brooklyn and Manhattan with awesome pizza (read all the comments above). But don't limit yourself to just pizza - there are lots of awesome places with all types of food.

    I've been in NYC for eight months now, and embarrassingly I haven't been able to attend any nyc.rb meetup, but I plan to soon. I'll see you there!

  11. Daniel Norton2008-09-23 08:56:24

    I can't believe no one mentioned John's Pizzeria on Bleeker. http://www.johnsbrickovenpizza.com/ It's the best coal-fired, brick oven pizza in the city.
    I will second Grimaldi's if you want to cross the bridge to Brooklyn.

  12. Bill Mers2008-09-23 12:39:00

    the above posters got it right -- Grimaldi's or DiFara's in Brooklyn are hands down the best, but inconvenient to get to and always have a wait. opinions for best pie in Manhattan vary, but I always liked John's on Bleeker, also mentioned above.

  13. Liana2008-09-24 06:45:25

    Ah, NYC. How I miss it so. I hated it at first and then came to LOVE it.

    Anyway, already mentioned but worth saying again...best pizza hands down: Two Boots

  14. planetmcd2008-09-24 08:24:57

    These are all great recs on pizza, but New York is on a whole new higher level with pizza from SF (I lived in both). Its like the reverse of a finding a good borrito. Try getting a borrito anywhere in NYC that is as good as the normal borritos in the Mission. It's near impossible.

    In all the pizza craze, let's not forget NYC is also the hot dog king of the world. Gray's Papaya and Papaya King are not to be missed, as well as your push cart frank.

    If you're a real pizza officianado, you need to go to 2 other places Providence, RI for flatbread pizza and Scranton/Old Forge, PA. for their pizza style (I love the white Pizza there). (I'm assuming you've been to Chicago).

  15. Josh Susser2008-09-25 20:22:21

    OK, that's a lot of pizza to check out. I'll get right on it, just as soon as I can tear myself away from these bagels...

  16. Chris Ricca2008-09-29 15:14:34

    Lucali, in the Cobble Hill area. They sometimes have 2 hour waits to sit down, but the pizza might be the best I have had (New Haven or New York) and it's BYOB, sp bring some wine/beer.

    http://www.yelp.com/biz/lucali-brooklyn

  17. Rechnung2008-10-07 14:21:39

    When you come back write post about this special pizza! :)

  18. John Bender2008-10-11 22:48:34

    Great to have you in the city! I've been enjoying you're blog very much lately. Now, if I can just get out from under this .NET consulting thing... :(

  19. ed2008-10-18 20:32:17

    .NET !! lol

  20. sam2008-10-19 08:58:36

    Italian pizza should be super cool right there.

    Lol, sam

  21. carlos@webbynode2008-11-06 13:14:06

    Hey there, got lost in the big apple!? havent heard from this blog in a while.

  22. Mark2008-12-06 10:48:30

    Just saw your site from Twitter. I went to school at Fordham in the Bronx... maybe not the best pizza but some of the best Italian food.

    Dominics on Aurthur and Robertos right around the corner. Robertos is one of NYC best. But I like Dominics. No menu, howyoudoin! service and a great family atmosphere.

    Tip: order the stuffed artichoke, its more than an appetizer.

Sorry, comments for this article are closed.