{"id":484219,"date":"2026-01-01T07:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T07:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/484219\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T07:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T07:21:33","slug":"how-prospect-park-deli-turned-new-york-energy-into-internet-gold-amnewyork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/484219\/","title":{"rendered":"How Prospect Park Deli turned New York energy into internet gold \u2013 amNewYork"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve probably heard it while scrolling: \u201cYo chef, can I get a wagyu chopped cheese?\u201d The line has become a familiar hook in videos filmed inside Prospect Park Deli, a neighborhood staple that, over the past year, has turned into one of Brooklyn\u2019s most recognizable deli backdrops online.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s literally this month, makes it a year,\u201d Yazen says of when the deli first started creating content. Early on, the approach was simple. \u201cWe used to make regular cooking videos with no audio. It was completely different from what we do now.\u201d Then came a turning point. \u201cI decided to make a video where one of my friends orders the wagyu chopped cheese. The video blew up, and we just went with it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consistency followed. \u201cWe try to post every single day,\u201d Yazen explains. One person walks in, then another, and suddenly, \u201cpeople see other people coming in. It\u2019s just like a domino effect.\u201d Each platform grew differently. \u201cIt really just depends,\u201d Yazen says.<\/p>\n

The inspiration to go online wasn\u2019t about rebranding the business, it was about showing what had already been there.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always had the wagyu menu before we started recording,\u201d Yazen says. Customers were the ones who pushed the idea. \u201cA lot of people will come in and tell us, \u2018Yo, we\u2019ve never seen a wagyu beef menu. Why don\u2019t you guys throw this on social media?\u2019\u201d So they tried it. \u201cWe tried it once, and I guess it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Prospect<\/a>Prospect Park Deli has made a name for itself in the community and online.Photo courtesy of Prospect Park Deli<\/p>\n

Behind the viral moments is a long family history. \u201cThis was always a family-owned business,\u201d Yazen says. \u201cMy dad owned it for 33 years. He started working here when he was 16 and then bought the store.\u201d Yazen and his brother Adam grew up in the deli, working after school and during breaks. For their father, it was a place to learn early: \u201chow to use money, how to save money, and how to speak to people.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Yazen, deciding what kind of content to make came down to one thing: entertainment. \u201cThe content that we create is more entertainment than actually making sense,\u201d he says, laughing. Over time, they began to notice a clear pattern in their audience. \u201cWe try to aim for younger audiences. We have a large younger audience, and they make up a large part of our audience.\u201d Yazen says. That trend is especially pronounced on YouTube. \u201cMost of our videos are watched by kids. We\u2019re on YouTube Kids, YouTube Education. I don\u2019t even know how it happened. It just did.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That unexpected audience has shaped everything from tone to editing. \u201cSo we try to keep it clean now. We don\u2019t let nobody curse, nothing really crazy,\u201d Yazen explains. The structure of each video is intentional, built around holding attention at all costs. \u201cYou can\u2019t have dull moments, bland moments, or a moment where somebody will swipe away.\u201d Every clip is designed to move fast. \u201cThey\u2019re edited and recorded in a way where there\u2019s something happening every single second- you can\u2019t swipe away.\u201d The result is content that\u2019s \u201cfast-paced, loud energy, gets you hooked, and then boom, the video\u2019s over.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the videos feel spontaneous, Yazen says they\u2019re carefully planned and selective. Guests are booked in advance through email or Instagram DMs, and while requests are constant, \u201cwe\u2019re very picky with who actually comes and films.\u201d What matters most isn\u2019t follower count, but presence. \u201cWe just look at your Instagram profile: do you have a personality?\u201d he says. \u201cThe videos aren\u2019t really about food, it\u2019s about the guest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Prospect<\/a>Prospect Park Deli has made a name for itself in the community and online.Photo courtesy of Prospect Park Deli<\/p>\n

Energy, humor, and character are key. \u201cCan you be funny? Can you be annoying? Can you act crazy?\u201d Yazen adds. \u201cYou can\u2019t be boring.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York City culture is at the core of everything Prospect Park Deli puts online. Yazen says the videos aren\u2019t really shaped by the immediate neighborhood as much as by the city\u2019s attitude as a whole. \u201cWe try to keep it real, the New York style,\u201d he explains. Most customers are locals, and when people come in from out of state, the contrast becomes part of the content. \u201cIf you\u2019re from Chicago, we\u2019ll have you act like how people from Chicago act,\u201d he says, but the baseline is always the same: a fast, loud, unapologetically New York energy.<\/p>\n

That authenticity has translated directly into growth. While the deli has always benefited from its location near Prospect Park, Yazen says the sandwiches were \u201cnever this good\u201d in terms of demand. Now, people actively travel to try the food, with customers coming daily from places like Chicago, New Jersey, California, and increasingly, from overseas. Social media helped cement the identity, too. When people hear the name Prospect Park Deli, Yazen says they immediately think of the wagyu chopped cheese. \u201cWe engraved it in people\u2019s brains.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sandwich, he explains, is pure New York. The chopped cheese has always been a city staple, and the only way to evolve it without losing its soul was to upgrade the meat. \u201cYou can\u2019t really change much,\u201d Yazen says. \u201cSo when people hear wagyu chopped cheese, it\u2019s automatic: \u2018I have to go try that.\u2019\u201d The setting reinforces the idea. The deli has never been renovated, preserving the OG bodega look. \u201cIf it\u2019s not broken, don\u2019t fix it,\u201d he says. Walking in feels like old-school New York, except now, they\u2019re serving wagyu.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Prospect Park Deli has made a name for itself in the community and online.Photo courtesy of Prospect Park Deli<\/p>\n

Behind the camera, the operation is also a family effort. While Adam is the face viewers recognize, Yazen stays out of frame by design. \u201cWhen people see my brother, they flip, because he\u2019s the one in the video,\u201d Yazen says. \u201cI can\u2019t do his job, and he can\u2019t do my job.\u201d Yazen handles everything behind the scenes: filming, scheduling, scripting, and directing what gets said on camera. \u201cI\u2019m the cameraman. I\u2019m the social media manager,\u201d he explains. \u201cEverything but being in the video. I can\u2019t cook.\u201d<\/p>\n

The videos lean into that same image: bodegas, delis, real New Yorkers ordering food in real time. Featuring customers has only strengthened the relationship with the community. Neighbors repost, buy merch, spread the word, and often ask to be in videos themselves. \u201cEverybody\u2019s showing love,\u201d Yazen says. That sense of togetherness, and the city\u2019s relentless pace, is what he loves most. \u201cNew Yorkers just keep it real,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople think we\u2019re mean, but we\u2019re actually nice.\u201d He wouldn\u2019t leave the city for anything. \u201cI love the rush. I love always having something to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scale of that reach still surprises him. \u201cI thought 30,000 views was a lot,\u201d Yazen admits. Now, some videos have reached tens of millions of views, with more than a billion views across platforms combined. \u201cWe definitely did not expect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Yazen says the next chapter is about playing the long game. Rather than moving away from what works, the goal is to expand it: shifting Prospect Park Deli from being seen as a business to becoming a personality people feel connected to. \u201cI want people to think of a person, not just a store,\u201d he says. That means more personality-driven content and new formats that build connection beyond the counter. Long-form YouTube and deeper storytelling are next. What started as a joke has grown into something real, and Prospect Park Deli is just getting started.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy of Prospect Park Deli<\/p>\n

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