STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Carmine Fusco stepped into the proprietor position at Presto Pizza just over five years ago. With mixed emotions, he announced this Thursday as his final day at the West Brighton parlor.
The shop will continue under new ownership starting Friday, March 8. As a parting gift from Fusco, all food is half-price until closing time at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 7. Specials are excluded from that offer.
Why is he leaving the business?
Fusco said, “It’s just time. I needed a break.”
But the pizza life isn’t over for him. He was baptized into the sauce and cheese world courtesy of his dad and uncle, owners of the former Fratelli’s in Tottenville.
“They came to me respectfully and said they wanted to sell. That’s when I came across this pizzeria [Presto] which was for sale in 2019,” said Fusco.
Then, COVID came. Fusco’s family grew. He went house hunting and found himself outbid in New Jersey. He hopes to have a pizzeria one day in the Garden State. In the meantime, he savored running Presto. In fact he loved the neighbors so much he’d serve on Thanksgiving each year until about 3 p.m.
He said, “I know there were families out there who didn’t cook. It felt good. I provided someone with a Thanksgiving meal. Even though I missed things with the family, I gave my 100 percent to the business.”
Some aspects of the restaurant realm he found disheartening, particularly in the past 13 or 14 months.
He shared, “I didn’t raise the prices on my customers. I just left it the way it was and maybe it hurt me, maybe it didn’t, but I provided for the neighborhood.” Over the past couple of years, however, he has faced rising costs on staples. Fusco said his uniform and linen rentals went up by 3 percent. He used to pay $18.50 for a 50-pound bag of flour until the price spiked to $24.50.
“Flour, cheese, sauce…I mean, something as simple as the boxes went up. I feel like I still have the cheapest pizzas in the neighborhood. I was charging…
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