FINAL TWO: Rats and Pizza to square off for Most NY Icon!

For weeks, a battle has been blazing across New York. In the world’s most iconic city, which of NYC’s celebrated symbols best represents the place so nice they named it twice?

Is it the spectacle of the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball Drop that best encapsulates the bright lights, big city energy that’s drawn tourists and dreamers for centuries? Or maybe it’s Lady Liberty’s welcoming torch? How about the intestinal fortitude that comes from years of consuming the humble dirty water hotdog?

We asked, and tens of thousands of people answered in a multi-week tournament to crown the ultimate NY icon. Now it all comes down to the final two: Rats or Pizza.

Sylvan Midgal

“Nobody likes a rat but let’s face it, rats are resilient industrious survivors – just like New Yorkers. But I’ve got Pizza winning the whole damn thing because nothing is more powerful than a slice of New York City pizza,” said City Councilman Justin Brannan, one of many New Yorkers swept up in this extra mad version of March Madness.

“I already lost a bunch of money because I had Bodega Cats and Bagels going the distance,” he said.

The tournament-style competition was created in collaboration with viral social media account @WhatIsNewYork, who knows a thing or two about some of the city’s most unforgettable sights – good, bad and bizarre. The original Round of 32 covered “divisions” of iconic NYC foods (bagels, bacon-egg-cheese sandwiches), animals (roaches, Flaco the Owl), landmarks (Empire State Building, Central Park) and events (New York Fashion Week, Thanksgiving Day Parade).

“As a native New Yorker who loves the Times Square Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve (and no I am not ashamed) I’m a little disappointed that didn’t win,” Spectrum News NY1 Anchor Shannan Ferry wrote in an email. “There’s always next year!”

Sylvan Midgal

After overcoming a tough round in the Elite 8, rats overcame bodega cats as the ultimate NYC animal, despite a strong contingent of online fans who love their breakfast sandwiches with just a little fur in them. Pizza clashed with the beloved bagel, another New York City anomaly that’s often imitated, but never duplicated.

Both prevailed, but face a steep climb to clinching the title.

“So I thought about this for a good amount of time and came to a realization: Rats can bite through steel toe boots,” @WhatIsNewYork host Ferris Wheel Jay said. “But then I thought, as long as dolla pizza spots still exist… they will always come out on top in my heart.”

Voting takes place on Instagram on both the @amNewYork and @WhatIsNewYork Instagram stories Wednesday, March 27.

For the finals, subscribers to the amNewYork x What Is New York? monthly newsletter will have an additional opportunity to vote in this Thusday’s email. To make sure you don’t miss the email, register now at amny.com/whatisnewyork.