Seaside Heights 'Pizza Crawl' Raising Funds For 9/11 Organization

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — As people throughout the area mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, a local organization will be raising funds to support first responders and their families in a unique way to mark the anniversary.

Jersey Pizza Joints, a Facebook group that celebrates (and sometimes fights over) everything Jersey pizza, is hosting the Seaside Pizza Crawl Saturday afternoon.

The event runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and tickets, which are $30 per person, can be purchased at the Franklin Avenue stage and Shore Slice Pizza at Carteret Avenue. Each ticket includes eight half-size boardwalk pizza slices at the participating pizzerias, bottled water, and exclusive events with drink specials.

More importantly, $5 from each ticket is donated to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which supports seriously injured first responders, their families and Gold Star Families. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation was created to honor the memory of Stephen Siller, the New York City firefighter who donned his full turnout gear and ran from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Twin Towers to help after the attacks. He died trying to help save lives after the attacks.

The Jersey Pizza Joints group was created on Facebook in March 2020 by Guy Madsen, who owns a summer home at the Shore.

Madsen said he created the group to help break up the constant stream of politics on Facebook and to help pass the time while people were quarantining during the early months of the pandemic.

He also created it to help pizzerias around the state, which were hit hard when the state shutdown restaurants in the early days of the pandemic. The group highlighted pizzerias around the state, helping to bring attention to small businesses, helping to keep some afloat.

"I grew up in the restaurant business," Madsen said. "I know how hard it is to make a living in a good time."

The group, which now has more than 42,000 members, has few rules, though there is one hard-and-fast rule that Madsen and his crew of moderators do not allow to be broken.

"I made it a totally politics free zone," Madsen said. "Make a political comment? I whack you. Keep it nice."

With 42,000 members, there are squabbles that arise over preferences ranging from what constitutes an acceptable level of well done crust (what's burnt to you is perfect to someone else) to cheese to toppings. (Fair warning: expect to get flamed if you dare to suggest pineapple is acceptable.)

The Seaside Pizza Crawl will finish with a pizza-eating contest, where two people will tackle a 24-inch pie with the goal of winning the Jersey Pizza Joints Seaside Pizza Eating Trophy. There also will be family-friendly comedy by RoRo Antonuccio, and Aloha Monkey will be playing music at the Beachcomber from 3:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Here are the participating Boardwalk Pizza Joints:

North End

• Shore Slice, Carteret Avenue & Boardwalk
• Marathon Steak & Potato Company, Across from EJ’s
• Casino Pier Grill, Outside window or inside Casino Pier Arcade & Food Court.

Central Boardwalk

• Jimbo’s Bar & Grill
• Maruca’s Tomato Pies at JR’s
• Beachcomber
• The Ocean Club, the new resort and restaurant across from Beachcomber on the beach

South End- Seaside Park

• Sawmill, Seaside Park, from 5:15 p.m. - to Close

Three Brothers from Italy's two spots at the north and south ends, and Spicy's Cantina had planned to participate but had to withdraw due to a labor shortage, Madsen said. The owner of Spicy's made a $500 donation to Tunnel to Towers and will be open during the Pizza Crawl.

"I would ask that everyone conduct themselves respectfully, please remember to not SLAM any one joint at the same time, spread out and meet up with us at the Beachcomber & Sawmill at the end of the day," Madsen wrote in final reminders about the pizza crawl. "Please be patient & polite."

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