New York Pizza

bluesky74656

Line Up and Wait
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Dec 31, 2005
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746
Location
Brecksville, OH
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Todd Kooser
I'm in the midst of my Instrument training and I'm at a point where I can fly to PTS standards, but I still need to burn off about 18 hours of instrument time before I can take the test. I went ahead and did all my training for the HP/Complex endorsements, but still have to burn off a bunch of time. My newest idea is that instead of doing it in 2 hour training flights once a week I should grab a buddy and fly all day. It looks like I can grab a cheap 152 and make it from here in Cleveland to New York and back in about 8 or 9 hours, depending on winds.

So the question is, what's the best airport to fly into to get a good New York pizza? Close to the field is better, because with 9 hours of flying I don't want to make the day even longer by spending 3 hours getting into the city and back.
 
HOLY CRAP Scott, that was funny as Hell. :rofl:

Todd, If you want to go to NYC you will have to fly to either Linden or Whiteplanes KHPN and take a train into the city. I think from Linden you need to take a cab to the train.

Fly to Philly instead and get a cheese steak or fly to Baltimore and get crabs. How far is Gastons?
 
HOLY CRAP Scott, that was funny as Hell. :rofl:

Todd, If you want to go to NYC you will have to fly to either Linden or Whiteplanes KHPN and take a train into the city. I think from Linden you need to take a cab to the train.

Fly to Philly instead and get a cheese steak or fly to Baltimore and get crabs. How far is Gastons?

I think you can get crabs in Cleveland, or anywhere else in Ohio. :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Scott: I'll admit, some days a casserole in a pizza crust sounds pretty good, but when I'm thinking pizza, I'm thinking thin crust. Roman, preferably, but New York will do.

Adam: Gaston's is about 6 hours one way, probably a bit much. Philly would also work. Baltimore is too close to the DC nightmare.

Any other suggestions if I don't want to take a train into the city? I hear good things here about Perfect Landing Cafe at Sky Acres. Any other suggestions within about 300 -400nm of Cleveland?
 
Todd nine hours under the hood in one day in a 150 is gonna suck big time but if thats what you want to do Then here are some options

PA
Philly area Airports for Cheese Steaks
N30 Cherry Ridge, Small, remote, I like this place don't know why but I do, Restaurant is good just make sure its open when you plan to arrive

MD
Baltimore for crabs. Don't fear the SFRA outside the FRZ its not too bad
KESN - outside the FRZ crabs just off the field
W29 Bay Bridge same thing crabs just off the field.

NJ
KMIV - Good chow and a WWII museum on the field.
KWWD- Restaurant on the field and an aviation museum on the field cab ride to town see the ocean get some good fool. ( Check to see if they have fuel if not there is some near by. You'll stop a lot on that trip in a 150.
1N7, Blairstown. Beautiful, Gliders, good restaurant eat outside on the picnic tables
KFWN Sussex NJ, Diner just off field.

NY
Sky acres is nice restaurant is good.

Remember to consider fields south and west of you. I suspect other POAers will chime in who live in those areas.
 
Fly to New Haven, CT (HVN). Only ~45NM past New York. HVN is 5-10 minutes from downtown. And New Haven has some of the best pizza in the US. Pepe's, Sally's, and Modern are all outstanding (Modern is my favorite and the least crowded of the bunch). Random, I know, but true.
 
Fly to New Haven, CT (HVN). Only ~45NM past New York. HVN is 5-10 minutes from downtown. And New Haven has some of the best pizza in the US. Pepe's, Sally's, and Modern are all outstanding (Modern is my favorite and the least crowded of the bunch). Random, I know, but true.

Great advice. I'd do that.
 
In all of the northeast, there is not a single decent place in walking distance to an airport that I can get a slice? The pizza in the DC area is crap.

The best I've come up with is walking to the boardwalk at 26n.

And yes, I like the thin greasy Philly/NY style.
 
Fly to New Haven, CT (HVN). Only ~45NM past New York. HVN is 5-10 minutes from downtown. And New Haven has some of the best pizza in the US. Pepe's, Sally's, and Modern are all outstanding (Modern is my favorite and the least crowded of the bunch). Random, I know, but true.

I cannot agree more -

Best pizza in the whole damn world and there is not duck, feta cheese, bbq chicken or any of the other weird stuff - must order a Mootz. They'll know what it is and you'll be spoiled for pizza forever.

And this only his second post - lots of promise in this poster here!
:D:D
 
Fly into POU and I'll pick you up and take you for some of the best pizza you ever had. And it's not New York pizza (which really does suck).
 
I cannot agree more -

Best pizza in the whole damn world and there is not duck, feta cheese, bbq chicken or any of the other weird stuff - must order a Mootz. They'll know what it is and you'll be spoiled for pizza forever.

And this only his second post - lots of promise in this poster here!
:D:D

Been lurking for a bit to get a feel for the place. I have some expertise on this topic, so it seemed like a good time to dip my toe in. Glad that you agree.
 
Cascarino's in Farmingdale (Long Island) is pretty good, and it's only about three miles from FRG. Not really "walking distance" unless you like long walks, but a short cab ride. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bus, as well.

Bob Cascarino owns a bunch of pizzerias in Queens and Long Island, and possibly elsewhere. The pizza is authentic NYC-style, and although the sauce is a bit bland for my own personal liking, most people I know think it's very good.

-Rich
 
Cascarino's in Farmingdale (Long Island) is pretty good, and it's only about three miles from FRG. Not really "walking distance" unless you like long walks, but a short cab ride. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bus, as well.

Bob Cascarino owns a bunch of pizzerias in Queens and Long Island, and possibly elsewhere. The pizza is authentic NYC-style, and although the sauce is a bit bland for my own personal liking, most people I know think it's very good.

-Rich
Ketchup topped, milk soaked matzo? :rofl:
 
Ketchup topped, milk soaked matzo? :rofl:

No matter where in the world you are, you manage to find every pizza reference on POA.

If you ever plan to be in Brooklyn, give me notice and I'll try to run down there and take you to Lenny's, which is probably the best pizza anywhere in the hemisphere.

-Rich
 
If you fly into Newburgh, NY (KSWF 15mi) or Warwick, NY (N72 8.5 mi) and have the guys at Planet Pizza deliver it to you at the airport from their store in Monroe, NY.
Their pizza is so good that my wife had them send me one via FedEx to Florida, it wasn't as good as being there but it was better than the stuff they have here in Florida.
 
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No matter where in the world you are, you manage to find every pizza reference on POA.

If you ever plan to be in Brooklyn, give me notice and I'll try to run down there and take you to Lenny's, which is probably the best pizza anywhere in the hemisphere.

-Rich
I don't get to NY very often. We tend to not have conferences there because of the hotel costs. But I was there in Jan of 2012. But I will take you up on that offer.:cheerswine:
 
We're going to do it this Saturday. Fly to New Haven for Pizza, then fly the Hudson corridor on the return leg. Looks to be about 7 hours of flying-- my safety pilot convinced me to take a 172 instead of a 152. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
The best pizza to be had anywhere on planet Earth can be found by landing at KTZR and contacting the Steinholme. The kitchens of Steinholme make the best pizza to be found anywhere. That is all.
 
The best pizza to be had anywhere on planet Earth can be found by landing at KTZR and contacting the Steinholme. The kitchens of Steinholme make the best pizza to be found anywhere. That is all.

All I got was eggs and toast.
 
Todd nine hours under the hood in one day in a 150 is gonna suck big time but if thats what you want to do Then here are some options

I did 4 hours for my long IFR X/C

It sucked.
 
Just finished pizza at Modern Apizza. Gettin ready to go fly the Hudson and head back. Wicked tail winds up high on the way out, we're going to try to keep it low on the way back.
 
Just finished pizza at Modern Apizza. Gettin ready to go fly the Hudson and head back. Wicked tail winds up high on the way out, we're going to try to keep it low on the way back.

Take the hood off for the Hudson River portion. It's an amazing ride, and keep your eyes peeled for planes. Better yet, follow the instructions for the skyline route and ATC will call out traffic.
 
I'm just now getting to posting a writeup.

We departed KBKL around 8:30 am headed for New Haven, CT (KHVN). We ran for 30 miles or so at 7500ft until we got out from under the overcast, then climbed up to 9500ft and rode the 30kt tailwind all the way to New Haven.

Smooth sailing on the way out:
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30kt tailwind meant 140kts over the ground:
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On the way in we flew over the north part of the Hudson River. From the plane we could see New York City from here, although it doesn't show in the picture.
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Approaching KHVN we overflew the Sikorski heliport.
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Total flight time on the way there was 3.1 hours. On the ground at HVN we asked the front desk at Robinson Aviation about the best pizza in town. He recommended Master Apizza and gave us the keys to a courtesy car. We got a half Italian Bomb half Crab Meat pizza, which sounds a bit odd but was very very tasty.
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We boxed up the remaining half pizza and headed out for our Hudson River run. I gave Matt responsibility for navigation and radios while I flew the plane and looked for traffic. We decided to get the Skyline Route in the Bravo. Matt called them up just north of the Tappan Zee bridge where the told us to expect the Bravo transition, but to call them back at the Alpine Tower as we weren't at their airspace yet. I approached the tower at 1400ft to stay below the Bravo, the held me there for a few miles, then cleared me into the Bravo at 1500, and finally took me up to 2000 for most of the route. Traffic wasn't too bad, probably 5 or 6 other aircraft we saw actually in the exclusion, but it was nice to have Tower helping us out.

Approaching the City:
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A horrid picture of me in front of the City:
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Downtown:
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Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island:
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We asked for and received approval for a right turn to the West over the Statue of Liberty instead of flying all the way to the VZ Bridge. Here's Ellis Island from after the turn:
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This took us right over Newark Liberty International. The tower had us fly directly over the numbers for the 22 runways at 2000 ft.

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From there we headed west and stopped at Somerset (KSMQ) for cheap fuel, and made the return trip to Cleveland. In a weather miracle, at 4500 feet the winds were such that we had no headwind and maybe even a bit of a tailwind on the way home. The return trip was 4.8 hours including the ~1.3 hour run down the Hudson. We landed at Burke Lakefront at around 7pm.

A day well spent.
 

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View of the Hudson, awesome pizza, and a freakin tailwind each way? Nice.
 
Sounds like an awesome flight Todd. How long was the trip home , excluding the hudson corridor?
 
It was 3.5 from Somerset (KSMQ) to KBKL. 1.3 from KHVN, through the Hudson, to Somerset.
 
Thanks for posting and taking pics :)


Sent from my brain using my fingers.
 
Just finished pizza at Modern Apizza. Gettin ready to go fly the Hudson and head back. Wicked tail winds up high on the way out, we're going to try to keep it low on the way back.

I thought you said you were going to New Haven?

Modern? WTF? You were in NH and you did not go to either Sally's Apizza or Pepe's? Are you freaking kidding me? oy vey. who puts crab meat on a pizza?
 
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Yeah, we went to New Haven, CT then on the way back to Cleveland detoured to go fly the Hudson.

Not being from the area, we asked for recommendations at every turn. The guy working the FBO desk recommended Modern Apizza, and the waitress there recommended the crab meat. It wasn't bad, but I did prefer the Italian Bomb.
 
Fly into POU and I'll pick you up and take you for some of the best pizza you ever had. And it's not New York pizza (which really does suck).

NY pizza is an aquired taste. We are talking a big floppy slice with the oil running off it that you have to fold in half to eat. I was raised on NYC pizza so I have the taste for it.
 
Tell you what. Fly into Leadville, CO and try a pizza from High Mountain pies. Not NY-style but good eatin'. Plus you will have landed at the highest elevation public-use airport in the US (or the lower 48?) Unfortunately I don't know if the weather is suitable right now and you will definitely want mountain flying experience.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KLXV

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/101/841585/restaurant/Colorado/High-Mountain-Pies-Leadville

www.facebook.com/pages/High-Mountain-Pies/97413159079

 
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