Massapequa: Matzah-Pizza or Matzoh-Pizza or Matzo-Pizza (nickname)
Massapequa, on Long Island, New York, has a large Italian population, and there are many pizzerias. It also has a large Jewish population. Massapequa has been nicknamed “Matzah/Matzoh-Pizza” and “Massapizza.”
“Massapequa’s Brash Young Star: Can’t Stop The Kid From ‘Matzo-Pizza’” was printed in Newsday (Long Island, NY) on August 19, 1980. “Sizing up Massapequa quickly, (Allard—ed.) Lowenstein dubbed it ‘Matzoh-Pizza’” was printed in the book The Pied Piper: Allard K. Lowenstein and the Liberal Dream (1985) by Richard Cummings. Allard Lowenstein (1929-1980) was a Congressman from 1969 to 1971, and he possibly said “Matzoh-Pizza” at this time.
“Friday night is always pizza night in Massapequa, better known as MassaPizza” was printed in the New York (NY) Times on September 16, 2001. “I grew up in Wantagh, a few towns west of Massapizza” was posted in the newsgroup rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz on February 28, 2009.
Wikipedia: Massapequa, New York
Massapequa (/mæsəˈpiːkwə/, mass-ə-PEEK-wə) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the southern part of the Town of Oyster Bay in southeastern Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, east of New York City. It is adjacent to Amityville in Suffolk County. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 21,685. Greater Massapequa, including North Massapequa, East Massapequa, and Massapequa Park, has a population of over 75,000. It is serviced by the Massapequa Station on the Long Island Rail Road.
Wikipedia: Matzah pizza
Matzah pizza (sometimes spelled matzoh pizza) is a type of pizza made by baking a piece of matzo that has been topped with sauce and cheese. Because Jews are forbidden from eating leavened bread during Passover, some individuals use matzo as a substitute for traditional pizza crusts during the holiday.
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Other uses
Because it has large Italian and Jewish communities, the term is also occasionally used to refer to the town of Massapequa, New York.
10 August 1980, Newsday (Long Island, NY), pt. 2, pp. 4-5:
Massapequa’s Brash Young Star:
Can’t Stop The Kid From ‘Matzo-Pizza’
Steve Guttenberg, not yet 22, has charmed and conned his way to stardom
By Jerry Parker
Google Books
The Pied Piper:
Allard K. Lowenstein and the Liberal Dream
By Richard Cummings
New York, NY: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated
1985
Pg. 409:
Sizing up Massapequa quickly, Lowenstein dubbed it “Matzoh-Pizza.”
Google Books
West Coast Plays
California Theatre Council
Issues 19-20
1986
Pg. 183:
Massapequa was coming up, so Bruce went to the end of the car to announce the next stops. He winked at me and said, “Watch this. (Calls out): Wantaugh, Seaford, Matzo-Pizza, and Matzo-Pizza Park next.”
3 August 1986, New York (NY) Times, “If you’re thinking of living in: Massapequa” by Catherine Schmidt, pg. R9, col. 3:
Such activities bring together a community of disparate ethnic backgrounds. The Rev. Lawrence A. Sheehan of the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church said the community is nicknamed ‘‘matzoh-pizza’’ because of its large Jewish and Italian communities. Both groups, in addition to the descendants of Germans, Irish and others, he said, have meshed well. ‘‘It’s because so many people moved here from Brooklyn, where they learned to appreciate the value of neighborhoods,’’ he said.
Bloomberg
But Will It Play In Matzo Pizza?
Douglas Harbrecht
September 2, 1991, 12:00 AM EDT
More than ever, national politicians are turning their attention to the suburbs. Just as small towns and big cities once shaped American life, the latest census indicates half the U. S. population now lives in suburbia. The `burbs will get most of the redistricted congressional seats next year.
In the past, politicians and social commentators took the pulse of the nation by asking a simple question: “Will it play in Peoria?” So where is the epicenter of the current political universe, the new Peoria of American politics? Would you believe 42 miles due east of Manhattan, hard by the Great South Bay of Long Island? “Massapequa—America’s new hometown,” proclaims New York’s Newsday.
Google Groups: misc.writing.screenplays
The Versailles Treaty
Shlockhack
7/22/99
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Long Island’s Nassau County is basically Jewish and Italian. Massapequa is also known as Matzohpizza.
15 August 2001, Washington (DC) Post, “Tawkin’ ‘Bout My Generation: The Long Island Star Factory: Washington Post Writers Return to Their Roots” by Carole Sottili, pg. C2, col. 1:
Along with a host of the famous and infamous, I grew up in the Massapequas, a place on the island’s South Shore roughly divided, by train tracks no less, between blue-collar and white-collar. We liked to call it Matzohpizza because of its rich ethnic mix (there were plenty of Irish, too).
16 September 2001, New York (NY) Times, “Dinner Is Served. But Just Who Cooked?” by Paula Licata, pg. 15:
Meryl Souci of Massapequa, who has four daughters, said: ‘‘We eat out so often I could probably pay my mortgage with what we spend. Friday night is always pizza night in Massapequa, better known as MassaPizza. It’s amazing how many pizzerias there are—two on any given block. You have to call way ahead on a Friday night from the train, and still your pick-up number can be 999.’‘
Google Groups: uk.media.tv.friends
Friends S8-18 - a litany of death
Tennant Stuart
4/12/02
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I was going to ask if Massapequa was a town on Long Island, until I looked up Alec Baldwin in the IMDb - and saw he was born there. His father Alexander was not only a social studies teacher in Massapequa, but also the football coach, who coined the nickname Matzoh-Pizza. In fact, twenty other actors & actresses come from Massapequa, including Steve Guttenberg, Helen Slater, and Jerry Seinfeld.
Newsday Guest Book—Philip W. Baker
January 26, 2007
Dear Chris, Phillip, & Amy,
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To this day I still call Massapequa, “massaPizza” which is a “Phil-ism”.
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Al Hildebrandt, North Merrick, NY
Urban Dictionary
farmingdale
An all American, blue collar town that takes pride in their Dalers as they continue to dominate massapequa.
A great football program which spans over 50 years in its committment to excellence.
It’s young Farmingdale football players that start out playing for the Hawks are brought up by their hard working, blue collar parents at an early age to despise and hate their crybaby, overprivledged, snobbish mustang rivals. As our boys graduate to FHS, they are welcomed to the family of the great Daler tradition and taught to seek out and destroy massapizza. By the way, the overall record is 22-12-2, Dalers up by 10. Check the archives losers!!!
#massapequa#bridesmades#second place#stepchildren#crybabies#losers!!
by Rob48 August 28, 2007
Google Groups: rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz
How many of us are from Massapequa?!?
van
2/28/09
(...)-
I grew up in Wantagh, a few towns west of Massapizza.
City-Data Forum—Long Island
Why are there many Italian Americans on Long Island? (Massapequa: houses, stores)
7 Wishes
06-15-2010, 09:11 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gpsma
If anyone of you spoke about blacks or jews like you just did about Italian-Americans you would be nailed to the cross by the resident liberal race baiters on this board.
I will agree on most comments but they really do apply to past generations. Even Massapizza is not the Italian ghetto it once was.
I always heard the nickname was Matzopizza because it had large numbers of both Italians and Jews (Bobby Slayton, a Jewish stand-up comic from the town, jokes about the term a lot).
ForumBiodiversity.com
Sicilians.
Humanist
2010-10-16, 18:43
As Assyrians and Sicilians don’t as a whole look drastically different, she could pass for 100% of either one. What did you think of the last girl I just posted on this page?
She reminds me of a Bulgarian girl I knew from college. Another nice one. 😊
I come from Massapequa, Long Island, by the way. Also known as Massapizza! Former home of Carlo Gambino and members of Mario Puzo’s family, among other notable Italians and Sicilians.
Twitter
Ten Speed
@TenSpeedKid
If you pronounce these correctly, I KNOW you’re from Long Island: Islip, Wantagh, Commack, Ronkonkoma, Mineola, Patchogue, & Massapizza
1:14 AM · Mar 30, 2010·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Gary Dell’Abate
@robertAbooey
Replying to @Electriccmayhem
Train conductor used to call it Matzoh Pizza. All Italian/Jewish
@Electric_Mayhem You knew of Massapequa before you heard about Amy Fisher
7:55 PM · Feb 23, 2011·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Mitch
@MitchNYM
Replying to @Braddigan89
@Braddigan7789 @alyssa_ritz My mom is from Massapequa, she calls is “MatzahPizza” because it’s all Jewish & Italian.
6:55 PM · Apr 22, 2012·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
pizza king
@KrebsNick
No no it’s not massapizza, it’s Massapequa lol dumb shit
4:57 PM · Dec 19, 2012·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Joey Boots
@JoeyBoots
Replying to @GregWeiss410
@GregWeiss410 I love having grown up in Massapequa - people call it MatzaPizza because it’s all Jews and Italians.
2:09 AM · Jul 7, 2013·Twitter Web Client
Dominicans to the USA
Update, wife’s first trip.
toasterhombre
« on: July 04, 2015, 05:58:35 am »
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Grew up in massapequa which is lovingly known as massapizza.
22 January 2016, The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California (San Francisco, CA), “Talking with ... Luke and Laura’s bass player” by Dan Pine, pg. 6:
I grew up in Massapequa in a Jewish neighborhood. Massapequa was called “Matzapizza” because it had a lot of Italians and Jews.
Twitter
Derek In ‘Cuse
@DerekInCuse
Replying to @JTTheBrick
I grew-up a couple towns over and stumbled into the massapizza diner during some strange hours 😉
8:47 AM · Jul 20, 2018·Twitter for iPhone
Google Books
I Used to Be Charming:
The Rest of Eve Babitz
By Eve Babitz
New York, NY: New York Review of Books
2019
Pg. 300:
He (actor William Baldwin—ed.) grew up in a Long Island town called Massapequa. “We called it Matzo-pizza because it was half Jewish and half Italian. I was neither. I’m Irish. All my friends had Italian names filled with vowels.”
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Mademoiselle
March 1993
Twitter
Tom “The Old Isles Fan Since 75”
@Masstom
@TLOMitch Hey I live in Massapequa & I never heard it referred to as Massa-Tuna-Town! Some of the natives call it Matzah-Pizza for its Jewish-Italian folks! Jerry Seinfeld says in Algonquin it means “At the Mall”
5:47 PM · Mar 28, 2019·Twitter for iPhone