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Exclusive | Brooklyn pizzeria owner rejects Dodgers reservation during World Series because he’s loyal to the Yankees: ‘No crotch bumping at Lucali!’
There’s no topping his team loyalty.
The owner of the beloved Brooklyn pizzeria Lucali turned down the Los Angeles Dodgers when they tried to get a reservation at the hotspot Sunday night — saying he loves the Yankees too much to feed their World Series rivals.
“Um, yeah that’s not happening, there will be no crotch bumping at Lucali,” owner Mark Iacono told a rep for the team — referencing the intimate, viral celebratory move flaunted by Dodger players during the playoffs.
The native Brooklynite, who has been a die-hard Bombers fan since childhood, rejected the 30-person reservation on the eve of Monday’s game 3 at Yankee Stadium because he couldn’t in good conscience serve the enemy.
“My father would have been turning in his grave,” Iacono said when contacted by The Post. “No pizza for Ohtani here.”
Iacono — whose star-studded brick oven eatery often lures lines around the block in Carroll Gardens— said the Dodgers rep, who called on Oct. 23, understood why he was playing culinary hardball and accepted the rejection.
On Tuesday night, Yankees players were buzzing about the red sauce snub after the team’s surprise turn-around-win, according to a Yankees insider.
Any restaurant that serves the Yanks’ opponents, should have its “NYC residence revoked,” the insider half-joked.
But at least one Dodgers player did end up chowing down on Italian food in the Big Apple on Sunday.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman dined at the star-studded Soho eatery Emilio’s Ballato on the World Series off-night, according to the eatery’s Founder Emilio Vitolo.
“When he’s in New York, Freeman loves coming here,” said Vitolo — who claimed he’s still going to bat for the Bombers despite slinging grub to their on-field foe.
Asked why he’s fine with feeding the enemy, Vitolo pointed to a photo of Yankees slugger Aaron Judge on the wall Wednesday afternoon and said, “I like everybody.”
“I hope to see the Yankees blow ‘em out of the water tonight,” he said.
His son, executive chef Anthony Vitolo, quipped that he’d been busted by The Post nourishing the wrong team.
“How did you guys find out this information? ” he asked. “We’re supposed to be a Yankees restaurant.”
The Dodgers lead the Yankees with a 3 to 1 record in the World Series. The teams are set to face off again Wednesday night.