News & Culture in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Points Nearby
July 5, 2025
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In the Spotlight

Grimaldi’s Coal Oven War Ignites

By Lisa M. Collins

Only in New York would you find this tale, of an 81-year-old pizza legend locked in battle with his younger, 71-year-old counterpart over his name — the famous Grimaldi’s — and a mostly illegal, yet so vital to that puffy, charred crust we love — coal-burning oven.

The New York Daily News has the story of the long-simmering battle between Patsy Grimaldi, the original pieman of the famous Grimaldi’s Pizza on Old Front Street in Dumbo, and Frank Ciolli, the man who bought his name and built a mult-store chain under the name Grimaldi’s, including a large pizzeria at 1 Front Street.

 

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