Fire Shuts Totonno’s, Legendary Coney Island Pizzeria

Since 1924, Totonno’s pizzeria has been a beacon on the block, remarkable for its longevity, for the deliciousness of its food and, maybe most of all, for its ability to embody a host of Brooklyn-fuhgeddaboudit-pizza clichés — Oh! The sauce! The family atmosphere! The line out the door! — without collapsing under them. Totonno’s had it all, including a no-nonsense owner, Louise Ciminieri, known as Cookie to her friends, as happy to put you in your place as she was to put you in a seat.

Until Sunday, the day after a fire wrecked the place, closing it indefinitely. Firefighters were called at 8:44 a.m. on Saturday, and had the blaze out by 10:35. Three firefighters suffered minor injuries.

But is grief a minor injury? Drivers — some with parents sitting expectantly in the back seat — slowed and stared incredulously at the metal gates lowered in front of Totonno’s before throwing up their hands.

“I’ve been meaning to come here,” said a sullen Sergio Crespo, 32, who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and had been trying to introduce his parents — and himself — to the fabled wonders of Totonno’s.

He tried to keep the mood cheery: “We can always go to Nathan’s.”