Pizza by the Slice by MSG Since 1964: NY Pizza Suprema

NY Pizza Suprema has been selling pizza by the slice at 413 8th Avenue, between 30th and 31st Streets, since 1964, and it sits directly across from Madison Square Garden and the Penn Station entrances. The counter is open every day from 10:30 am to midnight, so it catches commuters before a train, fans before a Knicks game and night owls after a concert. If you need a serious slice within a few minutes of Penn, this is the one locals point to.

Salvatore Riggio, an Italian immigrant, opened the shop at this exact location in 1964, and the family still runs it. The pizzeria likes to point out that it was here before Madison Square Garden moved in across the avenue. On the official site the family tells the story of a price increase of five cents a slice that sent students from the RCA school around the corner out to picket in front of the shop for several days.

For the first twenty-four years the menu was almost a dare. From 1964 until 1988 Sal served only plain cheese slices, living by a motto the family still repeats: do one thing and do it better than anyone else. Toppings and specialty squares arrived later, but the shop's own advice to out-of-towners remains blunt and printed on the site: try the real New York slice, plain cheese, because good pizza does not need to be disguised.

The most famous endorsement came from the Slice Harvester, a writer who spent two and a half years eating a plain slice at every pizzeria in Manhattan. After hundreds of shops, NY Pizza Suprema was the only one he gave a perfect score, and the family keeps that verdict front and center on its About page. Serious Eats later singled out the upside-down slice as the real standout of the counter.

Pizza writer Ed Levine put the shop's usefulness more practically: if you have fifteen minutes or less to get something to eat near Penn, Pizza Suprema is the answer. That speed matters here more than almost anywhere in the city, because half the people in line are holding train tickets. Coverage has also run in the Wall Street Journal and on national morning television, all listed on the shop's press page.

Start with the upside-down square, which the menu describes as a sauce lover's favorite: Grande mozzarella laid directly on a light, airy deep-dish crust and covered with a homemade cooked onion-based sauce, so the top stays bright and savory while the cheese melts underneath. The whole twelve-slice upside-down pie costs $36.74 on the shop's own online ordering menu, the same price as the twelve-slice New York-style Sicilian.

Then get the plain round slice the family built its name on. Time Out wrote in 2026 that the crust is thin but sturdy and folds cleanly, which is exactly what you want when you are eating on the sidewalk. A whole eight-slice round cheese pie is $28.47, and the garlic-based marinara pie, sprinkled only with imported Pecorino Romano, is the same price. The cheese blend leans on 30-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano and a 12-month aged Pecorino Romano grated over the top.

There is no host stand and no table service. You walk up to the glass case, point at what you want, and the staff warm it up while you pay. The Infatuation noted that there is always a line, but it moves quickly unless you arrive right after a Madison Square Garden event lets out. The staff are practiced at keeping things moving, which is why a twenty-person queue rarely means a twenty-minute wait.

Timing is the whole trick. The calm windows are late morning right after the 10:30 am opening and mid-afternoon between the lunch rush and the evening commute. Avoid the half hour after a Knicks or Rangers game ends, when the Garden empties straight across 8th Avenue into the shop. If you are catching a train, order a square to go, since the thick crust survives a ride better than a thin round slice.

Order two different slices if you are new, one square and one round, so you can taste why the shop splits its fans. Reheated slices come out hotter and crisper than the trays sitting in the case, and staff will put a fresh one in the oven on request. Grab napkins on your way out: the upside-down square drips sauce over the edge of the paper plate within the first bite.

Eighth Avenue around the shop has been rebuilt over the past few years, and the best place to eat a slice with a little breathing room is Moynihan Train Hall inside the old James A. Farley post office building, one block west. Its glass-roofed concourse has benches, clean light and departure boards, which makes it a much nicer waiting room than the underground corridors of Penn Station proper.

After eating, walk south along 8th Avenue toward Chelsea, or loop around the Garden itself to see the crowds gathering before a show. The Farley building's grand Corinthian colonnade along 8th Avenue is worth a look even if you are not catching a train. On game nights, the entire block turns into a sea of jerseys, and a slice in hand is the most local thing you can carry.

Address: 413 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10001, between 30th and 31st Streets in Midtown West. Hours: open daily from 10:30 am to 12 am. Transit: the A, C and E trains stop at 34th Street-Penn Station on 8th Avenue, and the 1, 2 and 3 trains stop at the 7th Avenue side, with LIRR and NJ Transit trains below the Garden.

Whole pies on the official online menu: round cheese $28.47, marinara $28.47, upside-down square $36.74, Sicilian $36.74, white with garlic $35.82, grandma $37.66, Suprema $43.17 and Burrata $45.01. Slices are sold from the counter case all day. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a quick dinner plan around your Madison Square Garden event or train departure.