"At our age and our health, we can't do this ourselves," Balzano, 74, the shop's bookkeeper and a retired public school teacher, told The Post."
""I'm old, very old. How much more can you do?," said the shopkeeper, whose 85-year-old brother, Frank Balzano, also co-owns the pizzeria."
""He brought pizza to America: without him, there would be no pizza," Balzano said, adding that it was his idea to start serving pizzas at Lombardi's, which began as a grocery store."
Antoinette Balzano and Louise "Cookie" Ciminieri, third-generation owners of Totonno's in Coney Island, will put the century-old pizzeria up for sale due to lack of younger relatives to continue operations. The shop was founded in 1924 by Anthony "Totonno" Pero, who emigrated from Naples and began serving pizza at Lombardi's before opening Totonno's. The James Beard Award-winning pizzeria attracted tourists and celebrities but reduced operations to delivery and pickup on weekends after the intended successor, Lawrence, fell ill during the pandemic and became wheelchair-bound.
Read at New York Post
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