Irene Helps San Remo Pizza Place Bring in the Dough

There was an uncanny silence at DiNapoli’s Pizzeria on Friday. For the first day since Irene landed there were no sounds of chainsaws buzzing. However, there was a lot of action inside the San Remo pizza place.  

A few parents were chatting about back to school and who their respective children had while an employee named Tommy ran the counter. One of the owners, Joey DiNapoli, Sr. sat reading the daily paper.

The owners of the small eatery are San Remo residents and had just got power back in their homes Friday. At the restaurant however, they had generators running the shop on Sunday and Monday.

“There was a line out the door, we just kept making pizza,“ said Tommy. 

The business had no phone service so people were just showing up for food.  As many local businesses lost money due to discarded food or the inability to open, DiNapoli owners said they made more money than usual.

“I think we gained new customers...people were thanking us for making such a big effort to feed them,” said DiNapoli.  

The Italian-American owners from the Bronx moved to San Remo in the late 1960’s and the entire family has called Kings Park home ever since. The senior member of the family was taking a short rest on Friday–he said everyone really worked hard over the last week.

“We had to sleep overnight here, we were taking shifts,” he added.  

According to DiNapoli the biggest obstacle was finding gas for the generator. He was running all over town buying up what he could find. 

At the end of day, he was thrilled that he was able to serve his community by serving up what he calls the family’s famous pizza recipe.

"When times get tough, everyone has to pitch in and help each other out and cooking is how the DiNapoli family helps," he said.