The (Noiseless) Ice Cream Man is Coming

The silent but tasty Van Leeuwen artisanal ice cream truck, courtesy Tien Mao's Flickr.

As the weather warms and plenty of New Yorkers are driven to the brink of insanity by the incessant, nursery school-worthy jingles blaring from slow-going ice cream trucks, take solace in the news that several new ice cream carts—all w/o loudspeakers—will debut this weekend. These quiet heroes are our greatest hope for winning the jingle wars, and when all is scooped and done, the weasel will be popped once and for all and the turkey in the straw will stay that way— FOREVER.

Starting this weekend, legally embattled Champagne Kiss bandit Jacques Torres will start cheerfully selling 12-15 flavors, plus 4 sorbets, outside his Hudson Street location. Rumor has it the man's gone and got himself a soft-serve machine, too. In Brooklyn, The General Greene will debut a custom cart with 5 flavors, and it's a good bet they'll be Nick Morgenstern's whipped, "Philadelphia-style" ice creams, which means they're not made with a custard base like most other product. Meanwhile, Blue Marble Ice Cream will continue to ride their ice cream trike (with a rear freezer attachment) down Atlantic Avenue to the Brooklyn Flea for the summer. They may eventually sell at the DUMBO Flea and vend in Prospect Park.

Elsewhere, Otto is expected to once again park their cart (featuring Meredith Kurtzman's gelatos) on the Northwest corner of Washington Square Park sometime soon. In the meantime, torture your friends with these mp3 of all the ice cream truck music you ever wanted (custom ringtones!), courtesy WFMU, and if ice cream just isn't your thing, now is the time to indulge all of your crossing-guard-dressed-like-a-cupcake fantasies and consider checking the just launched Cupcake Stop, who'll be having a movable cupcake preview this Friday night.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Hugh Merwin in Food on May 21, 2009 3:33 PM

Comments [rss]

Fritzdecat

"Blaring Enya" LOL

ribaldry

Are u kdding? Those trucks engines idle at ear splitting volume. It's like walking by a turbine engine.

MrCow

another charm, albeit annoying, shot down by misery.

NannyState

C'mon, who ever heard of a "silent ice cream truck"? At the very least Van Leeuwen should be blaring Enya.

sexisicilian

I agree with Trilby16, I would rather listen to anything but people's lame ass convos especially on the subway @ 8 a.m. :)

Trilby16

I would rather listen to the Mr. Softee jingle all day than have to listen to people's inane cell phone conversations, but that's just me. SIGH!

lostwallet

Pinkberry and Red Mango must feel pretty stupid investing in all that real estate, huh?

lostwallet

Was in the Whole Foods in Bergen Mall a few weeks ago when the Van Leeuwen truck pulled up. The store almost emptied of employees and customers, alike. Apparently, it stops there regularly on its way into the city and is the highlight of the crew's day.

Thought this was pretty odd, considering they sell gelato and such, but warmed my wallet to see the WH employees enthusiastically supporting locavore.

rlb14

There are a ton of pushcarts in uptown Manhattan and in Queens - all without music. Coco Helado carts. I can atest to their availability in Inwood and Jackson Heights.

sluggo

Mister Softee is not ice cream, it's chemicals, frozen.

Politburo

That raises an interesting point.. ice cream, by the government's definition, must contain 10% milk fat and 10% milk solids.

Soft serve doesn't appear to meet this threshold.. but because it isn't packaged, I don't think they're subject to the regulation.