More And More We Are Finding That People Are Getting Stupider And Stupider

Unaccountably — amazingly — the pizza chains Domino’s and Papa John’s are making inroads in pizza-rich New York City:

Domino’s and Papa John’s are trying to grab a piece of the New York pizza pie.

More national chains have been popping up in the Big Apple as they try to do to the mom-and-pop pizza parlor what Home Depot and Lowe’s have done to neighborhood hardware stores.

“In the last two years, I have seen a difference, probably 10 percent,” said Dominick Abitino, 38, whose family runs four Abitino’s pizzerias in Manhattan. “It’s mostly Domino’s that eats into it.”

He added proudly, “We make all of our stuff on premises. We use high-end products. It’s a family business. We don’t do mass production in a plant and ship it out like those chains.”

And New Yorkers’ discerning palates can certainly taste the difference between the zesty sauces made by the local pizzerias and the glop slopped on by the cookie-cutter chains.

“New Yorkers know — and demand — great pizza, and the chains simply don’t offer that,” said Adam Kuban, publisher of the cheese-and-sauce-obsessed Web site SliceNY.com. “Independent pizzerias continue to thrive here, and the number of them, in my observation, has grown faster than that of the chains.”

And while the mega-chains may offer good deals, the taste buds of New Yorkers aren’t easily swayed.

“It’s not the same. It’s almost like pre-made pizza,” said Gerard Muscianesi, of Manalapan, N.J., as he chowed down on at the famous John’s Pizza on Bleecker Street in the Village. “New York pizza is still the best.”

While the major chains have seen growth in the Big Apple, there are still only 36 Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s and Sbarro’s franchises combined in Manhattan — compared with more than 500 independent pizzerias.

What’s next? An Einstein Bros. franchise?