Good morning, it’s Thursday.
While I have my preferred dining spots and cuisines, I am not the sort of person who gets obsessive about particular eateries. I will not wait on line for extended periods of time to get into a restaurant, no matter how much I like it or how high a rating it has.
Generally speaking, when I’m hungry, I want to eat, full stop. Hanging around for hours – especially when it comes to a meal like brunch that I can make at home just as well and most likely for far less money – just makes me hangry and unhappy.
So when I recommend a particular spot and say whatever they are producing at this locale is worth the wait, you should know that it truly means something in my book.
Somehow a few months ago, it was my good fortune to stumble upon Pizzeria Mari – a tiny little hole-in-the-wall joint located at 625 River St., Troy.
To call this place offbeat and niche would be an understatement. They have weird hours. They only sell slices on weekends, and supplies are limited, available starting at 11 a.m. and then only until they sell out – which is often. (To avoid being disappointed, check the online “Slice Tracker” before you go).
They don’t offer anything but pizza, two salads, and a miso chocolate chip cookie. There’s no dine-in to speak of, though there are a few tables and chairs outside and a small counter with a handful of stools.
They only make one size pizza – 16 inches, which is eight slices. The dough is long fermented and the sauce, cheese, and toppings are locally sourced. The crust is perfectly charred and the result is absolutely transporting – as good as, or even better than, anything you’ll find in a celebrated New York City joint, in my humble opinion.
One caveat about this pizza: It doesn’t freeze well. It is meant to be enjoyed a la minute – literally fresh out of the oven and onto the plate. You can order pies, but only two at a time. (The team at Pizzeria Mari is only two people and they make everything to order and by hand).
They also don’t deliver, understanding that time is the enemy of good pizza. The longer your pie has to travel, they less fresh, hot, crispy and perfect it will be.
This is starting to sound like a paid placement and let me assure you that it is not. I don’t have any of those…not that I would turn one down, necessarily, but no one has ever asked. I just really love pizza, and I think this place is a hidden gem. They do barely any advertising, though there was this one (glowing) review in the Times Union over the summer.
I am writing this post in celebration of local makers, small businesses, people with a dream, and National Pizza Month. Pizzeria Maria is about to celebrate its one-year anniversary…do yourself a favor and put it on your to-do list the next time you’re in Troy.
Another great day (you’re probably getting tired of me saying this, but it’s true), with ample sunshine and high temperatures peaking out in the mid-60s.
In the headlines…
The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections, according to U.S. officials and other people briefed on the deliberations.
President Donald Trump’s political brand is still riding high in Israel — but it may not save Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from an electoral defeat next Tuesday.
Netanyahu planned to carry out strikes against Iran earlier this month, but Trump reportedly opposed reigniting the fighting before the US midterm elections, the Financial Times reported.
A coalition of Democratic lawmakers and campaign committees filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to impose a sweeping halt to efforts by the Trump administration to control various aspects of election administration ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
Trump was interrupted by at least 12 hecklers — two of whom were assaulted on-camera by outraged rally-goers Wednesday night in South Carolina, with the commander in chief praising an older supporter for beating a protester near the stage.
A federal judge in California on Wednesday blocked the Homeland Security Department from carrying out most field operations focused on uncovering voter fraud in nine states as part of a broader push to identify noncitizen voters.
Vice President JD Vance defended an ad featuring the estranged mother of the Democrat running for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, dismissing condemnation of it from even fellow Republicans as “whining.”
In the ad from Vivek Ramaswamy, Dr. Acton’s Republican opponent, the mother said her daughter had lied and exaggerated about her childhood struggles. The ad was met with outrage, as Dr. Acton’s stepfather was charged with raping the candidate as a child.
The Trump administration on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to resume for now construction of a border wall and other infrastructure through a remote area of West Texas that includes Big Bend National Park.
The Justice Department filed an emergency request for the court to lift a federal judge’s order halting wall construction in the region while a lawsuit against the project brought by an environmental group and other challengers plays out.
The detention of a state employee by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has drawn the attention of Gov. Kathy Hochul, exacerbating the Democratic governor’s ongoing clash with the Trump administration over its stepped-up immigration enforcement.
Hochul is holding on to a 14-point lead over Republican rival Bruce Blakeman in next month’s gubernatorial election, according to a new Q poll.
New York State court officers endorsed Blakeman for governor on Wednesday, a rare move that marks the first time in at least 20 years the unions have backed a candidate for the office.
Despite her sizable and stable lead, just 49 percent of likely voters approved of the job Hochul has done as governor, while 45 percent expressed disapproval.
The governor confirmed that she’s involved in talks to lure a new computer chip manufacturer to Marcy in Oneida County, but any deal is contingent on federal approvals that could be weeks away.
Hochul is hoping regulatory changes can help make it easier for New Yorkers to get childcare. State agencies will advance several dozen proposed changes aimed at expanding access to certain services and reducing time spent complying with state mandates.
Democrats already have a tight grip on the New York Senate, but they’re hoping they can regain a supermajority in this year’s elections.
The Mamdani administration is undergoing a staffing shake-up involving the chiefs of staff for three deputy mayors and the unexplained firing of the person in charge of the mayor’s advance team.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for the end of what he called genocide and occupation at the hands of the Israeli government, along with the release of several activists affiliated with Rabbis for Human Rights.
House candidate Brad Lander was detained by Israeli security forces along with dozens of US and Israeli rabbis and activists, as the delegation was helping Palestinians harvest olives from their grove close to a settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Lander was released after about three hours with a warning, while dozens of other volunteers were held for several hours longer.
After his release, Lander wrote on X: “The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.”
Mamdani accused Amazon and other opponents of spending heavily to scare New Yorkers about a proposed overhaul of the city’s package delivery industry, as he prepares to join national labor leaders in a push for the legislation’s passage.
The Mamdani administration’s second document dump of 9/11 records is now complete. The cumulative 210,000 pages now posted on the city’s new 9/11 portal offer an unusual glimpse of discussions between city agencies and the lawyers representing them.
Mamdani has signed just one bill into law in 10 months since taking office — leaving critics to wonder if the millennial mayor is more interested in social media stardom than his daily government duties.
Mamdani ceremonially opened a time capsule Wednesday, 50 years to the day former Mayor Abraham Beame and a delegation of local officials placed it in the cornerstone of the Port Richmond Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility.
New rules that the city has proposed to impose on the operators of storage lockers will have to wait, a Staten Island judge ruled.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is urging her activist followers to help her find as many as 80,000 “inactive” city voters so they can cast ballots in the upcoming elections to support Democrats.
A retired NYPD detective has been arrested and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a Rockland County man on the George Washington Bridge, police officials said Wednesday.
The Port Authority plans to rehab an approach to the George Washington Bridge where large pieces of debris fell from the ceiling in two frightening incidents last May, documents published by the agency show.
Two operators of a social adult daycare center on Staten Island have been arrested on charges they defrauded Medicaid out of more than $500,000, including billing for services to people who were dead, the Staten Island district attorney announced.
The NYPD officer who shot and killed a man during a traffic dispute in Brooklyn more than a decade ago will face a departmental trial early next year, members of the slain man’s family said Wednesday.
The Capital Region could see higher-than-normal temperatures and precipitation levels this winter thanks to an unusually strong El Niño.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was in Malta on Wednesday to celebrate the blockbuster deal the Trump administration negotiated with Japan to finance two new computer chip factories valued at $21 billion at GlobalFoundries’ Saratoga County campus.
Lt. Col. Jared Duffy, chief of staff for State Police Superintendent Steven G. James, reportedly passed a polygraph examination and no evidence of wrongdoing was found on his multiple electronic devices after investigators searched his Colonie residence Tuesday.
Early construction is now visible at 244 Wolf Road, where a retail plaza that will include a new Subway restaurant is being built.
The Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, one of the country’s largest awards in medicine and science, has been awarded to two California-based researchers whose work has led to new treatments for a variety of cancers.
Saratoga County Republican Chairman Joseph Suhrada said he plans to resign his position this evening following the release of a phone call in which he used racist and homophobic language in a conversation about men’s basketball.
An Amsterdam Youth Soccer Club board member faces grand larceny charges after committing fraudulent spending of the club’s money, city police said.
For more than an hour, students and graduates packed into a cafeteria at Colonie Central High School made it clear that the recent video made by high school students using slurs was just the latest moment in decades of abuse.
The man charged with stabbing 76-year-old Daniel Frament on a bicycle trail in Menands in 2024 pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in court Wednesday afternoon.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
