Rockaway has plenty of pizza, but with his new shop, Sean Aiken is thinking outside the triangle. Detroit is about 600 miles from Rockaway, but the local pizza maker has brought a taste of Motor City a little closer to the beach — one crispy, cheesy corner at a time. Crown Square Pizza, offering Detroit-style pizza at 9904 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, is now open and the squares are flying out of the oven.
Rockaway has come to know and love Aiken’s Neapolitan pizza, which he sold at pop-ups and at the former Rockaway Beach Brewing Co. before taking Seany Pizza to the boardwalk, selling personal pies at Beach 97th since summer 2022. But with his latest idea, Rockaway is getting a taste of something different—Detroit style.
Not found anywhere else on the peninsula, but popular in well, Detroit, and found in Manhattan and northern parts of Brooklyn and Queens, Detroit style is a type of square that’s all about the crust. Aiken explained the style stems back to Motor City’s automobile assembly-line prime, where workers would use pans to hold nuts and bolts. “Those pans would find their way into people’s homes,” Aiken said. Homes where innovative Italian immigrants would make use of the deep rectangular pans to press dough into. And they’d grab whatever cheese was easy to come by. “Wisconsin brick was widely available,” Aiken said, rather than the low moisture mozz New York style pizza is known for. With the style of pan, the cheddar burns into it, down the sides, making a crust around the outside, and then it’s topped with sauce.
“That’s what really makes it unique, Aiken said. “Because any pizza in a high-rise pan, we know as Sicilian. In Brooklyn, they call it a square. But this is a little bit different because of the burnt cheese crust.” With that said, Aiken urges folks to not toss the crust. “If you throw the crust away from your Detroit style pizza, that would be like, sacrilegious. It’s the best part.”
For his Detroit style pizza, Aiken uses a cheese blend, incorporating that familiar low moisture mozzarella into the Wisconsin cheddar. And much like Seany Pizza, he curates high quality ingredients to put out the best product, including olive oil from Sicily and cheeses imported from other parts of Italy, and toppings distributed from around the country. And then he adds his magic touch, turning some basic squares into tastebud worthy masterpieces.
For instance, the signature slice, the Sweet and Salty by the Sea includes a mozzarella/cheddar blend, gorgonzola, pepperoni, Mike’s Hot Honey and fresh basil. “I think that’s the one that we’re gonna get known for,” Aiken said. Another standout is The Great White featuring a cheese blend, American roasted garlic, whipped ricotta with Sicilian olive oil, fresh basil and real freshly shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. Then there are the classics like margherita and pepperoni squares.
No matter what he’s serving since quietly opening his doors on Thursday, August 13, the squares have been flying out of the oven. By 7 p.m. on Friday, Crown Square Pizza was completely sold out—no more sauce, no more cheese, no more dough. “I thought it would be busy. I thought it would be good… but it kind of went nuts,” Aiken said. “We did 300 pizzas. That’s a lot of pizza. You figure, maybe on opening day we’ll sell 75, maybe 100, but we did 130 opening day and by the next day, they were gone.” With that, Aiken has taken the week to regroup and better prepare to meet the surge when he reopens on Thursday, August 20 at noon. “I’m prepping 500 doughs. We’ll see where that gets us,” Aiken said.
Why the big rush? Aiken has developed a respected reputation in the community. A Rockaway native, who moved back to town in 2022, Aiken grew up working in the food and beverage business. From a stockboy at Pickles & Pies to bar backing to bartending at his brother’s former bar, The Raintower, to DJing at venues across the city, predominantly Brooklyn Bowl, where he served as a senior manager, to a local concessionaire. When Covid hit, he turned his focus to pizza. “I always loved pizza,” Aiken said. But he found inspiration through Paul Giannone, a popular pizza maker known for his Paulie Gee shops. “He basically worked in the World Trade Center for many years and when he retired, he took all his money and took a chance on pizza in his late 60s. That inspired me a lot as like, kind of your second or third act,” Aiken said. When he opened his doors last Thursday, Aiken’s first customer was Paulie Gee, who had been waiting since before the doors opened.
Paulie Gee wasn’t the only one waiting. Aiken took on the former Avoid the Day Bookstore spot 18 months ago. Turning a book shop into a pizzeria took more time than expected. Working with contractors, plumbers, electricians, utility companies and through New York City bureaucracy, Aiken was finally able to turn the space into something he could be proud of, and a place where he could start dishing out dough, and buffalo wings. A place with a blue and white checkered floor, reflecting the squares that he serves and the theme running throughout that gives an old-school pizzeria, yet café vibe. A vibe that feels very much New York, with a bit of Detroit mixed in, from the subway tiles on the wall to diner stools to sit in and rap books and hip-hop albums on some shelves, plus unique imported products for sale on others, like olive oils, olives, Mike’s Hot Honey, tomatoes, pesto, herbs and more. The items and the squares were big sellers during the sold-out debut after a year and a half of anticipation. After all, good things come to those who wait. “People couldn’t wait to try it,” Aiken said.
Building dreams takes time. And Aiken is proud to see his finally come to fruition. “There are so many different emotions. I took everyone along for the ride on this buildout, which had all these ups and down, but I’ve always wanted to own a restaurant since I was a kid. And to finally do it now at almost 50, after all this time in the industry feels kind of crazy. It’s a relief that it’s open, but wow, after that opening, we’ve got to keep up with this,” Aiken said. “It’s really been amazing and people seem really happy. It’s been overwhelming but it’s everything I know this community is.”
Crown Square will be open from Thursdays to Sundays at around noon for now. Aiken encourages people to stop by to order, and to have some patience as they rise to meet the demand. Delivery and online ordering will be available in the future. For updates, including when they might be sold out, follow @crownsquarepizza or @seanypizza on Instagram, or call 929-781-2529.
