[Photo from November by Steven]
The start of interior and exterior renovations last month at the former Percy's Tavern on the northeast corner of Avenue A and 13th prompted speculation that a new tenant was in the works for the space.
The Pizza Cowboy did a little detective work, and shared it on Instagram yesterday:
I’ve heard from five sources different parts of the same rumor — the partnership, location, and name — that El Pres, aka David Portnoy, aka THAT Portnoy of “Everybody knows the rules” Barstool Sports Pizza Reviews, is teaming up with pizza personality, chef, and consultant Nino Coniglio (of Brooklyn Pizza Crew and Williamsburg Pizza) to open a bar pie pizzeria in the former Percy’s Tavern space ...
The rumored name: Alright Frankie, a Barstool Sports catchphrase that already has its own merch line. You can read the Best Pizza NYC post for more details.
There isn't any confirmation yet on this venture, though the Brooklyn Pizza Crew shared the Instagram post in their Stories yesterday.
The space has been vacant for more than two years after Percy's closed.
In September of 2017, Community Board 3 did not approve the Late Late’s James Morrissey's application to open Honey Fitz at this address.
Updated 1:30 p.m.
Eater has more on Portnoy...
Considering Portnoy’s obsession with pizza and his claim that’d try every single pizza slice in Manhattan, a pizzeria seems like a natural fit for Portnoy’s first restaurant venture.
But whether New Yorkers will embrace him is a different story. In August, Portnoy got into a Twitter spat with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she called him out for threatening to fire any employee that discussed unionization efforts. He’s currently being investigated by the National Labor Relations Board over those threats. A Daily Beast report found that Portnoy has also allegedly threatened and harassed female sportswriters by making expletive-laden references to them either on the blog or on a podcast.
In addition, a rep for Nino Coniglio, the chef behind Williamsburg Pizza and Brooklyn Pizza Crew, told Eater that he is working independent of his other projects.
H/T Arthur B.!
