By Gus Saltonstall
The Upper West Side will be losing one of its most famous pizza shops.
Patsy’s Pizzeria at 61 West 74th Street, between Columbus and Central Park West, will close sometime in January, a manager, who did not provide his name, confirmed to West Side Rag in a phone call on Tuesday.
“We are not sure yet when exactly, but we are closing for sure,” the manager told the Rag. “Maybe two more weeks after January 1.”
When asked about the reasoning for the closure, he said, “The lease is finished and everything is so expensive now.”
The manager added that there are no current plans to open a different location on the Upper West Side, but confirmed that Patsy’s four other locations in Manhattan would remain open. The Upper West Side location has also been under a sidewalk shed for the last ten years, Google Maps imagery shows.
“Any chance you stay open?” the Rag asked again.
“No. No. No,” the manager responded.
In the past week, the Rag received multiple tips from locals who said that employees had mentioned during recent dining experiences that the Upper West Side pizza shop would be closing at either the end of December or in January.
“We’re devastated!” Erin Gilbert wrote in an email about the impending closure.
Patsy’s Upper West Side outpost has served customers for the last 28 years on West 74th Street. The pizzeria’s original location opened in Harlem in 1933, which makes it one of the oldest, still-running pizzerias in New York City.
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It is infuriating that the sidewalk shed has been up for nine years… and the landlord still keeps raising the rent. Great way to kill a small business.
A sidewalk shed for the last nine years. A great way to encourage customers. Like many other initiatives, Local law 11 as it works in practice has many negative consequences for a neighborhood but provides an income stream, in this case to the now entrenched sidewalk bridge industry.
I hope Patsy’s other locations are doing good business.
funny how the reaction to falling bricks killing people was the extreme of local law 11, yet cars kill and maim people every day in the city and we can’t even get daylighting or more cameras or enforcement by the nypd.
And a family member of mine almost died when swerving to avoid a pedestrian who was walking in the middle of the street. Should we ban pedestrians too?
The anti-car crowd here is off the rails. I totally agree that laws regarding cars should be enforced. But the childish hatred of cars is ridiculous and incredibly provincial. It makes all New Yorkers look like ignorant idiots.
If only our community leaders put the same energy and focus on fighting the insidious scaffolds and the mafia behind them, as they do in meddling in the private business of some minor church and its building…
No big loss in my opinion! The UWS does not have good pizza, the best pizza in Manhattan is in Greenwich Village and the West Village, sucks having to pay the congestion pricing fee for large pizza orders!
Song E Napule is terrific and Motorino is great too.
Try Song’e Napule or even Parla or Motorino.
Lots of great pizza in the west village for sure – but give Motorino a try on the UWS or Mama’s Too.
Honestly…. while never great see a local business close, I went a few years ago and the pizza just wasn’t good and was $20+ for a plain pie to boot. I’m sure the scaffolding isn’t helping either.
With Parla opening so close by, I’m betting plenty of former customers went there instead.
We loved Patsy’s, and so did all our friends. It was great for families and had good quality pizza and salads.
Parla’s is completely different. We will definitely miss Patsy’s.
I agree with this. Patsy’s is far more family friendly. Parla is much smaller (and doesn’t have high chairs) .
Both are good, but will miss having Patsy’s in the neighborhood.
I live on 74th and am very sad to hear this about my neighbor. The scaffold? Nine years? Feels like 90. It’s horrendous. And all this time I think I’ve seen actual workers working on the building twice, and that’s the truth. I can’t imagine what the building residents are feeling/doing to no avail. To the owner and staff at Patsy’s, I’m very sorry to see you go.
Their pizza and salads are excellent.
Patsy’s is one of the few affordable sit down restaurants in the neighborhood. I’ve been eating there for years. I’ve seen celebrities there a few times. Very sad to see them go!
Patsy’s is well-suited to the stroller set who don’t really care what they eat, so long as the kids like it. It’s the kind of place where children throw their food and scream while the parents scroll on their phones and nobody gets scolded for it. There’s a market for places that ignore bad parenting and abysmal behavior. As far as the food goes, it tastes like you’re eating in Minnesota.
But at least you get a taste of Minnesota
Ate there once about a year ago and never wanted to go back. There are better pizzas all over the neighborhood.
I’ve forgotten it was still here. Agree with posts about scaffolding, and then on a side street that doesn’t otherwise get much food traffic, it makes it hard. Also, the old pizzeria model just doesn’t feel as fresh anymore as compared to the newer gourmet pizza wave. I went a few years ago when relatives were visiting and they had read about the brand. They felt it was a let down. It may just be time. But hopefully something good and different comes in.
Once again, the scaffolding and side walk sheds have ruined a business. Please fine buildings to take them down.
So sorry to hear this. Pizza preference is a very perosal thing, but Patsy’s was the rare, relaible family restaurant on the UWS. What explains NYC’s ridiculous obsession with sidewalk sheds, other than corruption? How is it that one can go to European cities with buildings much, much older than ours yet not be assaulted with the ugly monstrosities at every turn? I’m very sorry that a Columbia coed died from a falling brick in 1979, but does that mean that all of us are sentenced to suffer with this craziness forevermore? Could this be an overreaction? Why are other cities able to handle this, and so much else, so much better than NYC does?
In 2015 a 2-year-old child was killed by falling stone from a building on West End Avenue. LL 11 is a necessity.
Maybe “Barnard student” rather than “Columbia coed” but yes, otherwise agree. LL11 is way extreme.
Why l Barnard? Woken go to Columbia College as well as Barbard,
Wow. There seem to be a lot of grinches out who got coal in their stockings. I can take or leave Patsy’s. Not somewhere I have a great desire to go, but I have nothing against it. But the irrational hatred towards it seems very over the top. If you don’t like it, don’t go. But don’t be so angry about it. I wish I had such problems.
My family has been going to Patsy’s for many years. The pizza as well as the salads and pasta dishes have ALWAYS been to notch. Affordable prices and great service. I will MISS this restaurant, very sad that it is closing.
Unfortunate. Just had it a few days ago for the first time and it was really good.
Can we get another CVS there??? PLEASE!!! if not, a bank or nail salon will be fine.
corporate and commercial and residential rents need to be capped – take the cinty back!!!!
Patsy Pizza ( COAL OVEN-117 @2NDAve.)
JUST The BEST PIZZA I have ever eaten & I have Eaten more than a few Pizza’s in my life
Patsy’s was the perfect family restaurant. Food kids would eat and parent could eat too and noisy enough the kids weren’t an intrusion. It is rare these days to have a place that is a family restaurant on the UWS. They will be missed.