Owners Of Prince Street Pizza Step Down Amid Racist Comments

NOLITA, NY — The father-son ownership duo of Prince Street Pizza in Lower Manhattan announced they are stepping down from management following multiple allegations of racist and offensive comments made to customers on Yelp and other social media sites.

The announcement comes weeks after a data scientist named Joe Rosenthal started cataloging on his Instagram a collection of online misdeeds by Frank and son Dominic Morano, including calling an Asian Yelp reviewer a "yellow dog" and social media posts in 2016 making light of a driver hitting Black Lives Matter protesters.

Other racially-charged comments included calling the Yelp reviewer a "mongrel" and a "mutt."

Prince Street Pizza released a statement on its Instagram Friday saying the Moranos would be stepping down from their managerial roles.

"There is nothing okay about the comments I made on Yelp," Frank Morano said in the statement. "I take full responsibility and wholeheartedly apologize to our customers, especially our Asian community. All of our customers are family to us, and you deserve so much better. I am stepping down because it's the right thing to do."

Prince Street Pizza also said in the statement that the man Frank made the racially-charged comments to came into the pizzeria before the online interaction and was kicked out following his "intoxicated and violent behavior toward other customers and employees."

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Rosenthal also reshared a 2016 social media posts from Dominic Morano making fun of Black Lives Matter members getting hit by a car during a protest.

The caption read, "Why do BLM and other protestors cross the road? To get run over by angry drivers."

Prince Street Pizza has also had a longtime Blue Lives Matter sticker on its Manhattan window.

While Frank and Dominic are stepping down from their managerial position, the Morano family will retain ownership of the company.

The Nolita pizzeria is one of the most popular eateries in Lower Manhattan and routinely gets noted in city and national rankings.