Lloyd’s Carrot Cake has proudly served its customers, including the school’s students and faculty, from its location down the hill since 1986. Considered some of the best carrot cake in New York City, they serve seven types of cakes and churns out about 1,000 cakes per week.

Scott Vigo, who has worked at the store as a cashier since the summer of 2021. Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., he operates the register, slices cakes for the display case, and packages them in boxes which he piles against the walls, waiting for a purchase for someone to enjoy. The store’s busiest days are Saturdays, and there’s often a rush in the afternoons, Vigo said. Luckily for Lloyd’s, there always seems to be a constant flow of customers, with a new one walking in just a few minutes after another has left. 

Vigo found the job through one of his friends, and was excited to work there after learning that Lloyds is a long-running family business. He loves all aspects of the job, though it can get quite hectic during holidays. Most customers at the store are locals from Riverdale and the Bronx. That includes students from Horace Mann, Riverdale, and Fieldston, though Vigo has noticed they have not been visiting as much as they used to. However, thanks to people promoting the store on social media, more tourists have stopped by.

Administrative Assistant for Data Management Laura Cassino has known about Lloyd’s since the early 2000s when she first moved to Riverdale, long before she started working at the school, she said, and has loved the cakes ever since. “The carrot cake is the best I’ve ever had. I love the cream cheese frosting.”

Emily Akbar (10) first heard about the store during advisory in her Middle Division years, when she heard that some mentors had bought the cake for their mentees to enjoy. Since then, she has enjoyed the cake many times throughout her years at the school, and in many different places, notably at breaks and in clubs, she said. Since she’s always loved carrot cake, she enjoyed Lloyd’s delicious cakes throughout her years. Even though she’s had the cake many times, it never gets old.

Before COVID, the Upper Division office would often buy the cakes for deans or other faculty and staff when it was their birthday, Cassino said. The tradition has slowed after the pandemic, though the cake still has the same wonderful taste and is a hit at parties in and out of school, she said. She even ordered one for an event she is hosting this weekend.

One of Vigo’s favorite aspects about working at Lloyds is the way that something as simple as carrot cake can connect so many people, he said. “Every time I’m dealing with customers and it’s a little packed so they have to wait, I see them coming together, having conversations, and telling stories — and there’s always a story when it comes to the carrot cake.” Since Vigo works in the storefront with another cashier, the two talk to keep each other entertained during slower periods or repetitive tasks like folding boxes, he said. “This place is run with nothing but love from everybody, and that’s the good part about it for me.”