99 Cent Fresh Pizza
9th Ave at 41st, New York City, March 2008
99 cents for a slice.
In one of the most expensive cities in the world.
True, the toppings may not be coming from the “all natural and organic” section of the local market.
But who cares?
It’s a New York City slice on a chilly winter evening.
Or warm summer evening.
Doesn’t matter.
Sure 99 Cent Fresh Pizza sells other things, but what for?
You’re heading home from the job that was breaking your stones all day, or trying to catch your train back to NJ suburbia, or just out of the bar (when we could still do that)…and you smell that heavenly aroma.
Dig into your pocket and pull out a couple of crumpled singles.
Two slices, please.
Guy behind the counter slides two hot slices, slick with the oil of the melted cheese, across to you on paper plates.
You can almost taste it… and almost do, too quickly.
The only thing that ruins a couple of slices of 99 cent pizza is burning the roof of your mouth on the cheese.
And three slices.
The third is never as good as the first two.
________________
I shot this with a Canon 50D and a “nifty fifty” 50mm lens, the cheapest one Canon makes. I had to go into New York for something with my job. Maybe I had to go to our annual report designers for a meeting or something. Maybe to look over AR proofs.
I remember I had just gotten this 50 and wanted to try it out. So I while I was in NYC, I walked around before catching the train back to Jersey.
Then last night, I read this New Yorker article, Better Than A Balloon, and reading about Two Brothers within made me think of this photo.
I dug it out and did a slight re-edit of it to pull up the shadows a little. Hey, new technology.
Then I realized today is National Pizza Day and I really felt like getting a 99 Cent Fresh Pizza slice in New York City, trying not to burn the roof of my mouth while also trying not to drip the grease on me.
First chance I get after this pandemic, I’m going to get one.
© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2021
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