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[UPDATE BELOW] More reports of Mister Softee's violent threats against rival ice cream trucks have surfaced. And this time the target is the infinitely superior ice cream purveyor Van Leeuwen, whose Twitter feed announces, "Truck had to leave midtown :( . There were 3 Mr. Softie Trucks threatening our drivers life. Scary stuff! Sorry guys, maybe another time." Or maybe you just stay off Softee's turf and your fancy trucks don't accidentally burst into flames, capisce?
Reached for comment, Benjamin Van Leeuwen tells us that his driver, Travis, was being followed by three Mister Softee trucks as he tried to find a place to park near Lexington and 55th Street. When he pulled over, they surrounded him and "threatened to kill him" if he didn't leave midtown. Van Leeuwen tells us, "They do that all the time," but so far this is his company's first brush with the Mister Softee mafia in midtown. He tells us that Travis considered calling police, but in the past they've been "really unhelpful" and reluctant to file a police report, and Travis wanted to get back to work.
Van Leeuwen adds, "It's too bad that in this densely populated part of Manhattan, where so many people are stuck in boring jobs, they can't get good ice cream and have to eat that stuff." "Stuff" is certainly a polite way to describe Mister Softee's frozen dessert product line. [Via Grub Street]
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So what happened after the Van Leeuwen truck left? Elimination round between the remaining 3 trucks?
No. The three trucks were probably owned by one guy. Or they all owed money to one guy.
good, fuck that extremely expensive van douchebag truck. mr. softee has been there forever, get the hell outta here or go somewhere where the trucks haven't been for years.
you're right! nothing good has ever come from competition!
Sorry buddy, it doesn't work that way.
Boycott Mr. Softee.
i agree. softee is goodish for what it is, but sometimes you want the option of some primo shit. so if softee is acting like thugs and denying people the option (especially in midtown where, believe me, people can afford van leuwen), that really hurts their brand. i won't buy their ice cream, anymore.
as an end note, it's worth mentioning that these two trucks are not TRULY in competition. sometimes you want to spend 1.50 or 2.00 on a softee, and sometimes you want to spend 4.00 on a van leuwen as a treat. let's be real here.
yeah, they're sort of in competition and not in competition at the same time.
that said, the photo above is hilarious!
Are Softee prices uniform throughout the city? I heard someone once say that she paid like $4 for a Softee cone? She was dead serious about it.
Catfish?
:D
This is very worrisome and scary. I enjoy purchasing ice cream from these trucks and the old man "I patronize is quite a friendly older hispanic gentleman. I am happy to give him my buisness. its too bad we have some rotten apples who dont know how to play by honest and fair rules. where is the police when you need safe ice cream!!!!
Makes me not want to eat ice cream. I will eat ices and forget my ice cream ills. Lets fix this rotten wolr d together!!!!
There has to be a future Ben Stiller or Will Farrell movie in this.
This is very worrisome and scary. I enjoy purchasing ice cream from these trucks and the old man "I patronize is quite a friendly older hispanic gentleman. I am happy to give him my buisness. its too bad we have some rotten apples who dont know how to play by honest and fair rules. where is the police when you need safe ice cream!!!!
Makes me not want to eat ice cream. I will eat ices and forget my ice cream ills. Lets fix this rotten wolr d together!!!!
The Van Leeuwen truck is in a completely different price point. How could it be competition to the Mr. Softie trucks?
If anything, the three Mr. Softie trucks should be fighting each other.
I only buy my frozen treats from the winners of Darwinian Struggle.
Mister Softee Threatening to Literally Kill Rival (Again)
"Literally" should modify "kill"
it works both ways.
i recall one summer where this one guy attacked an eldery couple with baseball bats because he wasconcerned they were stealing his ice cream truck routes. dispicable.
"'Stuff' is certainly a polite way to describe Mister Softee's frozen dessert product line"
I don't understand this. Mister Softee's chocolate soft serve with sprinkles is delicious and inexpensive. I've never patronized this fancy ice cream truck competitor, but i don't see why Gothamist has to hate on ol' softee. He's an icon.
I took the last 3 minutes to check out the "artisinal ice cream" man's website, and I am filled with consternation. Pretentious fancy ice cream in a recession and all.
If only there was a large group of uniformed professional law enforcement officers who could be called in these cases of such threats!
I heard that a jewish ice cream maker once stole an Ice cream route from a young adolf hitler when he was attempting to get his first ice cream cart off the ground.
i dont recall this little known fact in history. Hitler never had apsirations to make or sell ice cream in Germany. Stop lying.
"where so many people are stuck in boring jobs" seems a tad condescending and unnecessary.
Yeah, I get a lot of Gothamist reading done on this job!
Really what has midtown produced in the past 200 years that's done anything useful for anyone? Truly. What? Skittles commercials is about as close as I think it comes and I have a hard time reconciling entertainment value as useful.
The Oreo cookie was invented at the old Nabisco plant on 16th Street.
I find Oreo cookies very entertaining.
A friend of mine claims his grandfather invented the name "Oreo".
I stand corrected sir. The oreo cookie is truly a mark of excellence in the enterprise cookie manufacturing market.
wasn't the chipwich invented here, too.
mmmmmmm chipwich.
hey, what happened?
no love for 5 boroughs Ice cream anymore.
I suppose putting "van" on anything the hipsters will eat that up.
It's actually good ice cream.
what are the other 'van' things hipsters are into?
Well, hell. For one thing, Sharon Van Etten.
Well, hell. For one thing, Sharon Van Etten.
where do they wash their hands?
I love this story. It would be great if they slingshot ice cream at each others' trucks.
So he left? Fuck that, should've stayed. Call the cops if you need to.
The Van Leeuwen ice cream is way better than Mr. Softee.
Good news, we can all rejoice and stop worrying about the ice cream truck issues because (along with all the other ills of the world) Obama is going to solve this problem with a speech at the UN today.
Hooray!
The Streets of New York are owned by the people of New York, not the mafia. People should be able to eat what they like... Softee should be shut down for their illegal practices. Such an ugly face they have put on an industry that should only bring joy to people's tastebuds. Leeuwen's ice cream is wonderful, and the people who serve and own it are good people with good morals and ideals. One of the best ice cream companies in the world. Just say no to Mr. Softee!