Just wanted to add that Tontonno's in Coney Island recently had major damage due to a fire. It is closed indefinately but they do promise to reopen. The fire received quite a bit of coverage in the local press.
My 2 cents as a native Brooklynite and having worked in NYC all my working life:
Lombardi's (disclaimer: I haven't been there in about 4 years so I guess I've missed the nosedive)
John's (Bleecker Street location)
Krispy on 13th Ave in Brooklyn for Sicilian.
Lento's was a long time favorite of mine when I lived in that neighborhood back in the late 70's/early80's. In fact one day as a test my sister and I ate at Tontonno's for lunch and Lento's for dinner and we both felt that Lento's was much better. But I should say it seems there were always day-to-day variations in both places. Maybe we hit Lento's on a good day and Tontonno's on a bad day.
PS, my wife and I have to go to a wake tomorrow on Long Island so I did a little research and based on Ed Levine's Pizza book we're going to try out Eddie's Pizza in New Hyde Park. I'm looking forward to it (Eddie's, not the wake)
<message edited by ken8038 on Sat, 04/25/09 9:32 AM>