Fleetwood Bakery Opens in Pleasantville – Finally!
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The long-awaited Fleetwood Bakery Shop finally opened its doors on Pleasantville’s Wheeler Avenue Monday afternoon attracting a large crowd of well-wishers, many carrying congratulatory bouquets.
The soft opening offered the mouthwatering aromas of fresh-baked cakes, pies and pastries as a stream of people sampled platters of cannolis, chocolate-covered Oreos and heart-shaped cookies for Valentine’s Day – all of which were on the house.
Bakery co-owners Enzo Cutaia, his mother Josephine and brother Joseph greeted everyone at the door.
“We finally made it,” Enzo Cutaia said. “It took us a while but we’re finally here.”
The Cutaias have owned the popular Fleetwood Pastry Shop in Mount Vernon for 27 years. They purchased the former Pleasantville Bakery that occupied the same storefront nearly four years ago.
But timing was not on their side. They signed a lease during COVID when new baking equipment and other supplies were hard to come by due to shipping delays and staff was difficult to find. Although the village had approved the necessary permits, the storefront sat empty.
On Monday, the Cutaia family and residents from Mount Vernon and Pleasantville joined local officials and the Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This is probably the largest crowd we’ve seen in a long time,” said PCTV producer Nick Antonaccio who attended the festivities. “This is a place that’s been in the works for a long time.”
Enzo Cutaia recounted his family’s history about how his recently widowed mother bought Fleetwood and opened their Mount Vernon location.
“We started 27 years ago not knowing anything about what a cannoli or a cookie was,” he said. “From strong family support, 27 years later we are opening our second store. We’re so excited.”
The full bakery display case contained a large assortment of cherry and apple pies, lobster tail pastries, muffins, croissants, napoleons, eclairs, biscotti and red velvet cookies, all of which customers were eager to buy.
Walking out of the bakery with a box of cookies for Valentine’s Day was Hawthorne resident Liz Sheehan who was driving by and pulled over when she saw the bakery was open.
“I grew up in Eastchester and I knew the Fleetwood Bakery in Mount Vernon,” Sheehan said. “I’ve been waiting for them to open here. It’s so exciting.”
Pleasantville resident Daneen Mancuso and her two sons, Matthew and Justin, had plates filled with rainbow cookies and chocolate-covered Oreos.
“I grew up in Mount Vernon,” Mancuso said. “Fleetwood is a great bakery.”
Two doors away, La Barberia hair salon owner Raffaele Ferraioli said he was delighted the bakery had finally opened.
“I’ve been here 32 years,” he recalled. “When I came here there was no one here at all. My store was one of the only ones here on Wheeler. Somehow, I knew there would be a renaissance. and once the Jacob Burns Film Center opened, that started everything. Now we have all sorts of restaurants. The bakery is just what we needed. Now it all comes together.”
Fleetwood Bakery Shop is located at 57 Wheeler Ave. Its hours are 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, call 914-773-2014.
Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/
