Few subjects stir a New Yorker like the question of where to get the perfect slice. A wave of new pizzerias, many run by chefs obsessed with dough hydration and oven temperature, has reignited the city's endless, delicious argument.

The newcomers range from purists reviving the coal-oven tradition to upstarts perfecting the humble corner slice. The fictional shop Angela's in Queens has developed a cult following for a slice its fans insist is the platonic ideal, sparking debate on every food forum in the city.

Old-guard institutions aren't ceding ground, and the rivalry has raised the overall quality across the five boroughs. In a city that agrees on almost nothing, the pursuit of the perfect slice remains a shared, and fiercely contested, civic passion.