The community was buzzing and rumors were flying about what would become of the vacant storefront on the corner of Jerome Avenue and Mosholu Parkway North. Those rumors can be put aside now as the signage for The Corner Pizza Shop was unveiled two weekends ago, just before Super Storm Sandy hit the Bronx.

The Corner Pizza Shop’s arrival means there will be three competing pizzerias standing within a block of one another.

Jose, an employee of M&R Pizza on 208th Street, just off Jerome, said M&R has been around for over 28 years. Still, he wonders if its customers will remain loyal with all the competition and gave a dig to cheaper.

“Every time something new comes, it affects us,” Jose said. “People will go for whatever is cheaper. The economy is bad so people will buy whatever is cheap rather than what tastes good.”

Local resident Amanda Rivera, 23, said The Corner Pizza Shop “will have tough competition with the $1 pizza store (Bronx Pizza).”
An employee of Bronx Pizza, a block away, was asked if The Corner Pizza Shop will affect their business. “It might, but we will wait and see,” he said. “We’ll try our best.”

Another local resident, 20-year-old David said, “It’s a good idea to have real Italian pizza around here.”

Henry Perry, a local resident since 1963, says The Corner Pizza Shop was expected to open after Labor Day but that was not the case.

In any case, he’s not happy about its arrival because it reminds him of when the spot used to be a pizza place back in the 1970s.

“It was a hangout spot for drug dealers” Perry says. He is concerned that the bad history will repeat itself if the location turns into a pizza shop. A pizza shop will undoubtedly attract more students from DeWitt Clinton High School, which is located just across Mosholu Parkway. Recently, Clinton was reported to have the most weapons seized from its student body, according to data released by the state.

[Ed. note: The Corner Pizza Shop was open for business on Monday morning, Nov. 12. This article was originally published in the Nov. 1-14 print edition of the Norwood News.]