NYC confiscates 34 ice cream trucks, striking back against scofflaws.
In a story first reported in the New York Times, New York City came up with a clever way to punish companies not paying fines on illegally parked trucks.
by David Stone
The Roosevelt Island Daily News
This happened in 2019, proving that, while New York was still crazy, it had a more whimsical veneer.
One hot day in June, the city hijacked 34 of them. They towed them away and parked them next to New York’s worst polluting power plant in Ravenswood, Long Island City.
“By constantly changing companies, operators could continue to re-register their trucks while eluding city officials,” the Times said.
“The truck owners ‘sought to evade enforcement of our traffic laws through an elaborate shell game, transferring ownership of their ice cream trucks between and among dozens of phony companies, effectively shielding their trucks from fines and seizure,’ said Zachary W. Carter, the city’s corporation counsel.”
When New York City confiscates 34 ice cream trucks…
It’s a piece of a continuing saga of trouble with these seemingly innocent pieces of wheeled commerce. When NYC confiscates 34 ice cream trucks, it pales next to the turf wars in which they’ve been involved.
As Eater New York reported…
Summer is just barely unofficially back and so is the now-infamous soft serve brawl between longtime giant Mister Softee and young disruptor New York Ice Cream. The fight between the two ice cream trucks is now several years deepand returns this year with theatrics like private investigators and violent intimidation tactics.
Eater New York
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Unequal Bargains
On June 18, the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s Real Estate Development Advisory Committee gathered to discuss ground leases, the master retail lease, and the ten additional years being offered under the Island’s master lease. Howard L. Polivy, the committee’s chair, opened the meeting as a longtime host shows guests through a familiar house, pointing out the furniture as if it had never moved an inch.
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