By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — A five-year-old Ray's Pizza franchise in Midtown is fighting back after an assault launched by a new 99 Cent Pizza outpost which opened across the street.
A banner advertising a limited-time 75-cent slice (as well as a 99-cent value menu for items like garlic bites) exclusive to Ray's 1710 Broadway storefront at 55th St. went up on the east side of the block early this week.
In the afternoons since, 99 Cent Fresh Pizza Manager Imran Ahmed said he has repeatedly seen Ray's employees flanking his storefront at 1723 Broadway, calling out "75 cents, 75 cents, 75 cents!"
"They're trying to kill us," Ahmed said Friday, while one Ray's worker Geoffrey Rodriguez passed out fliers up the block. "They're thinking we're going to run, but we're not…they can give a free price too, we don't care."
But across the street, Ray's manager and 30-year company veteran Elsayed Elgaiar called the drama overblown.
"There's no war," Elgaiar said, calling the 75-cent pizza promotion a typical winter sale provoked in part by the slow economy.
On the sidewalk separating the two pizzerias, Queens resident Troy Jones, 31, took Ray's side.
"I don't think it's fair," Jones said of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza's November move onto the block. "I think they're trying to outscore Ray's."
But 99 Cent Fresh Pizza customer Randy Ramos, a 23-year-old bank manager, explained that he was willing to shell out an extra 24 cents.
"We need the flavor — the flavor across the street is different," Ramos said of Ray's pizza. "The crust is too soggy."
Elgaiar argued his homemade crust makes a better pizza because, at Ray's, he uses a gas-fired brick oven, compared to 99 Cent Fresh Pizza's electric oven — which Elgaiar believes creates an inferior, drier crust.
For his part, Ahmed emphasized that 99 Cent Pizza only cooks a few pies at a time. Any slice that sits out for more than 20 to 30 minutes is thrown out, in order to preserve the texture.
Ultimately, it's the business and residential community near the Broadway block between 54th and 55th St. block who will choose the superior slice.
"Between us and him is the customer," Elgaiar said of Ahmed. "They can see who is better quality."
