By Michael Newcomer, food critic

If there’s anything I’ve learned about New Yorkers from growing up with one, it’s that they love to brag. They have the best drivers, nature, air, water and, especially, pizza. The only thing I’ve ever heard complaints about is the New York weather, hence the mass immigration to the Sunshine State.

New Yorkers definitely don’t have a warm place in their hearts for pizza in Florida, and don’t get them started on the chain pies. This is why I was shocked to hear the New Yorker in my house, my stepfather, rave about a pizza parlor in Tarpon Springs, Rick’s Meats and New York Style Pizza.

I decided to put the pizza to the test by giving a pie to another native New Yorker now residing in Florida, Tarpon Springs High senior Nick Govola, and his family. They dug into a medium hand-tossed cheese pizza.

The Govola clan raved about the cheese/sauce/crust ratio, the way New York pizza should be, they said.

“All the pizza crust down here is too spongy and doughy. Pizza crust should be thinner and crunchier, more dense,” patriarch Robert Govola said. He did admit one point about his outlook, though. “All New York-style pizza is good pizza with an ice cold Peroni.”

Ask my stepfather, and he’d tell you Rick’s pizza is on par with pizza back home, a 10 out of 10. The Govolas, however, said Rick’s is just below the bar, giving it a 7.

“It’s about as good as it gets here in Florida, but you can’t re-create the water that goes into the dough of New York pizza,” Nick Govola said.

Michael Newcomer is a senior at Tarpon Springs High.