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An Upper West Side pizza staple is preparing to say goodbye.
The UWS Patsy’s Pizzeria, located at 61 West 74th Street (between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue), is expected to close this month.
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“We’ll miss you, @patsyspizzanyc! Be sure to stop by their UWS location this week before they’re gone,” the Columbus Avenue BID wrote on Instagram this weekend.
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The closure marks the end of a nearly three-decade run on the Upper West Side. The neighborhood outpost opened around 1997, bringing one of New York City’s most storied pizza institutions west of Central Park.
Patsy’s Pizzeria traces its roots back to 1933, when it first opened in East Harlem—then known as Italian Harlem. Founded by Pasquale “Patsy” Lanceri, the pizzeria became known for its coal-oven, thin-crust pies and is widely regarded as one of New York’s original pizzerias. Alongside Lombardi’s, Totonno’s, and John’s, Patsy’s helped define what many consider the classic New York slice. The restaurant also claims to have pioneered the idea of selling pizza by the slice.
Over the decades, Patsy’s has played a key role in preserving old-school pizza traditions, particularly during periods when coal-oven pizzerias became increasingly rare due to environmental regulations that made new ovens nearly impossible to install.
While the Upper West Side location is closing, four other Manhattan Patsy’s Pizzeria locations are expected to remain open. These include the original East Harlem outpost at 2287 First Avenue (between East 116th and 117th streets), as well as locations on East 60th Street, East 43rd Street, and West 56th Street.
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