Over the weekend, cheese-loving New Yorkers headed to Bushwick for the much-anticipated (on Facebook) New York City Pizza Festival, an al fresco event that promised "pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, sausage, black olives, bacon, green peppers, extra cheese, plain or even experimental combos... pizza for taste buds of all types!" Over 30,000 people said they'd be attending.
Despite not mentioning any official vendors by name, the event somehow duped people into paying up to $150 for tickets. Needless to say, things were not quite what attendees expected. We mean, shouldn't we all know by now that trending Facebook events aren't real? Come on now.
As described by Gothamist, the massive foodie fail was akin to the infamous Fyre Festival - an expensive scam with shitty eats. Then again, at least the Fyre Festival gave out full-size cheese sandwiches, rather than bite-sized scraps of "pizza."
Hosted in what was essentially a parking lot (a space provided by Pizza Fest's apparent partner, Hangry Garden), the "festival" began an hour late, was obviously lacking in resources, and boasted around five pizza pies cut into micro slices. The event also advertised burgers and fries, which, unsurprisingly, never materialized.
Now that victims of the fraudulent event have come together, the New York Attorney General is looking into the organizer, Ishmael Osekre, who also threw together an ill-fated African Food Festival last summer. Seriously guys, do some research before handing over your hard-earned dough.
Click through for a look at the disaster.
[Photo via Facebook]
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