13 BRONX WEEKLY October 6, 2019 www.BXTimes.com
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The Five Borough Pizza
Challenge is much more
than just a foodie’s quest
to slice out some territory
in each corner of New York
City…as a matter of fact
having pizza time is the
easiest part of the day.
The contest’s true driven
skill is traversing the fi ve
boroughs without using an
automobile, instead having
to rely on a hybrid of public
transit, walking and even
bicycling for the many competitive
triatha-eaters that
signed up for this amazing
race.
Promoting the use of the
city’s public transit is actually
the impetus behind the
annual challenge, which
completed its fourth run on
Saturday, September 28.
“A friend of mine and I
thought one day ‘let’s see
if we can hit each borough
for a slice’ and we travelled
around the city only using
busses, ferries, subways,
bikes, the works,” said the
challenge’s organizer, Joe
Cutrufo.
After a few successful
runs he decided to open it
up to the public, donating
all its proceeds to Transportation
Alternatives to
raise awareness of car-less
transit options in NYC.
In the name of good and
honest journalism, I joined
the 175 esteemed challengers
on the prowl for pizza
via public transit that
weekend, ambitious to put
my navigational skills to
the test.
The day began in Lower
Manhattan at Isamu Noguchi’s
iconic ‘Red Cube’
sculpture on Broadway;
that’s where the unknown
fi ve pizzerias scattered
throughout the boroughs
were fi nally disclosed to the
racers.
My objective was to scarf
down slices at Puglsey Pizza
in the Bronx, Paulie’s Pizzeria
on Staten Island, Rizzo’s
Fine Pizza in Queens,
Norm’s Pizza in Brooklyn,
and Manhattan’s Sophia
Pizza Shoppe, all before a
rendezvous at the Financial
District’s Clinton Hall
to cross the proverbial fi nish
line.
My strategy was to start
in the Bronx, span southbound
to Staten Island,
then over to Brooklyn and
Queens, fi nally returning
to Manhattan hopefully by
nightfall.
After bouncing from
Metro North, to the subway,
to the Staten Island Ferry,
to the SI 51 bus, back to the
subway, and eventually giving
my legs a decent workout,
I managed to clock in at
all fi ve places by 6 p.m. that
fateful evening.
Then I jumped on a #5
IRT train at 51st Street,
after taking a leisurely
pseudo-victory lap, before
heading to Wall Street and
Clinton Hall, where I spoke
with Cutrufo and fellow organizer
Shannon Moriarty.
They told me I fi nished
in the top 60 contestants
as I stood holding the challenge’s
iconic, wooden
pizza peel, feeling proud of
my achievement as a fi rst
timer.
“The top fi nishers actually
bike most of the race,”
Cutrufo confi ded, mentioning
that this run was the
Five Borough Pizza Challenge’s
largest turnout yet.
Even if you were like me
and didn’t muster up the
courage to bike under the
infl uence of fi ve slices of
pizza, public transit did its
job for the most part.
“The trains were running
on time and it was a
beautiful day for biking.
Everyone that fi nished said
they had a blast,” Moriarty
proudly boasted.
All in all, it was an exhilarating
challenge and
you can guarantee that I’ll
be gunning for fi rst place in
2020.
See more about the Five
Borough Pizza Challenge
on Schneps Media’s television
show, The BX Express
on BronxNet TV, Wednesday
nights at 8 p.m. and
streaming online anytime
at bronxnet.org.
Taking the Five Boro Pizza
Challenge was exhilerating
The Five Borough Pizza Challenge team waits for racers at Clinton hall’s fi nish line.
Five Borough Pizza Challenge
Cyclists gear up to take the challenge in downtown Manhattan. Twitter/ @PedestrianTom
Reporter Alex Mitchell completes the Five Borough Pizza Challenge. Schneps Media/Alex Mitchell
Shirts given out at the starting
line of the race. Twitter/ @
PedestrianTom
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