By Daniel Krieger
New York City has some confusing parking rules, but it’s pretty clear you can’t ever park in front of fire hydrants, in crosswalks or in bike lanes. Yet ice cream trucks brazenly do that on a daily basis on the Upper West Side, and they seem to get away with it – even though parking a truck in a bike lane is a potential danger to cyclists as well as pedestrians.
This irked one longtime Upper West Sider so much that he launched a one-man crusade, filing numerous complaints, pressuring the police to act, and emailing city officials. In a recent phone interview with West Side Rag, which had gotten one of the impassioned emails that he had sent far and wide, the crusader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said he first noticed this last summer, made some complaints, and then when the trucks came back this spring, he kicked his campaign into high gear. A cyclist, he focuses his attention on the Central Park West bike lanes and submits as many as ten complaints to 311 every day, he said.
The ice cream trucks sometimes park in the path of the bike lane, causing riders to go out into traffic. More often, they park in the buffer zone area of the bike lane, bringing ice cream customers right into the very busy bike path where they wait in line and often linger. This offers cyclists three unappealing options: riding out into traffic; stopping until the path is clear; or just plowing right through and trying not to hit anyone.
“Someone is going to get killed here one of these days,” the crusader said, citing the case of an Australian woman who died in 2018 when she had to veer out of the bike lane on Central Park West to avoid a car parked in it and another cyclist also killed on Central Park West in 2021. When the crusader asked police officers to do something, he said they claimed they couldn’t do more than issue a ticket. But in his view, the ticket is just the cost of doing business for the ice cream vendors. (A cost that some neglected paying until the city cracked down on unpaid tickets in Midtown a few years ago.)
“How do they get away with it?” he asked. “There are hardcore rules. All the other vendors have to be in specific spots. They can’t just park wherever the hell they feel like it.”
WSR contacted the Department of Transportation, which recommended reaching out to the NYPD, which handles enforcement of traffic regulations. An NYPD spokesperson responded to our query by email: “The NYPD does not allow any vehicles to double park, park in bike lanes or violate any parking regulations.” Those who do, the spokesperson wrote, will receive a summons. But the spokesperson did not respond to our other questions: what do police do about repeat offenders, and have the police specifically addressed the ice- cream-truck issue.
On a recent afternoon, WSR counted seven ice cream trucks on Central Park West between West 67th and West 96th Streets. Four of them were parked on the east side of the street in the bike lane buffer zones. One, on 96th Street, was in front of a fire hydrant. When asked why they were parked illegally, the vendor said in Spanish that there’s nowhere else to park and if there’s an emergency, they can quickly move. When another vendor, parked on 81st Street in the bike lane buffer area, was asked why he parked illegally, he said, “I have a job.”
An off-duty police officer later asked if this reporting was for an article about the trucks. Eager to share his thoughts about them but wishing to remain anonymous, he discussed several ways in which he believes they break the law. But when it came to blocking the bike lanes, he struck a sympathetic tone, saying, “there should be some system where they get parking spots.”
The company most known for sending out these trucks, New York Ice Cream, which has engaged in turf battles for years with Mister Softee, did not respond to a request for comment about the matter of illegal parking.
When City Councilmember Gale Brewer’s office received the crusader’s email, it contacted the NYPD to ask for more enforcement, according to Brewer spokesperson Sam Goldsmith, who said police definitely could do more than ticketing. “If you’re parked in a bike lane,” he said, “you can be towed. Period.”
“The trucks are getting away with too much,” Goldsmith said, “whether it’s parking in the bike lane, in front of fire hydrants or other no standing areas. Parking in the bike lane is particularly dangerous. People on bicycles are killed by cars at an alarming rate and this exacerbates the risk by a lot.”
It is precisely the combination of the danger and lack of a meaningful penalty that most rankles and motivates the crusader.
“I’m just trying to get a little bit of accountability in one little space that affects my life,” he said. “You can’t do whatever you want with no consequences and put people’s lives at risk.”
Almost run down today on my way to work. Crossing Central Park West at 82, in the crosswalk, had the walk sign, e-biker (delivery) blew past a stopped truck and through the red light. I had to actively avoid. If I was older and less agile, I likely would have been hit.
This illegal behavior by the ice cream truck operators, like rain, falls on saintly cyclists and sinning cyclists alike.
I don’t see what the point of your comment is to be frank. If one cyclist endangers you, or 10, or even 40% of them out on the road (which is surely a vast overstatement of the problem), the remaining riders don’t deserve to ride in safety?
If it were, as you said “one cyclist” that was endangering others, we wouldn’t have a problem. We do have a problem, however, because virtually all cyclists routinely ignore traffic signals and stop signs, go the wrong way on one way streets and/or ride on the sidewalk.
Brazenly ignoring laws because the City has reneged on enforcing them… what else is new?
good for this “anonymous” crusader to note instances of this problem. 🙂
Those bikers who are pushed into traffic (or people wanting ice cream who blithely walk into the bike lane) are bound to get injured one of these days. (I admit a bias against these diesel-spewing, idling vehicles, many of which still play their tunes continuously.)
I am a fan of Mr. Softee.
But not OK for any food truck to be at a bus stop.
On weekends, an ice cream truck blocks the M66 bus stop on Fifth Avenue
I noticed that the food truck on 72nd and CPW (north east corner) blocks the Walk/Don’t Walk sign.
There is an ice cream truck on 89th st near Amst. near a hydrant , but the complaint is he has his engine running for 5 plus hours and the stink on half the block from fumes is awful. Complained 3 times to 311 since April. Nothing done.
If the generator engine is well maintained it will be quiet and not emitting fumes. Unfortunately many ice cream trucks have old generators, noisy and polluting.
the exhaust is horrible and life threatening
That engine is providing power for refrigeration and machinery
We get it, but that doesn’t help the people breathing those fumes every day, There are doubtless more environmentally friendly refrigeration technologies available, but the truck owners won’t invest in such technologies unless they are required to do so.
I agree, these ice cream trucks are a major hazard. Thank you to the complainant for speaking up and loudly.
Apart from traffic violations, ice cream trucks emit noxious diesel fumes as well as loud engine noise. But there is demand for their products, which should be acknowledged. On CPW there are a number of entrances to the West Drive, e.g., at 99th Street, where trucks could park safely since the drives are closed to cars.
They could do that on 90 street too but they park in the bike lane or the buffer and block the crossing sign. Thank you to anon for starting this conversation. It is indeed a safety problem. That needs to be addressed. If I were a biker I would stay in the bike lane and stop to give the operator a piece of my mind for endangering myself and his customers.
Ah, remember when ice cream trucks were part of childhood innocence and pleasures (although then parents were warning about tooth cavities!)
…and where would the trucks park so kiddies can get their ice cream? Halfway on the sidewalk?
Selling ice cream shouldn’t be in this kind of oversized mobile truck to begin with.
Having customers OR trucks in the bike lanes or crosswalks is definitely an immediate, urgent hazard worth enforcing against. Thank you crusader, and thank you WSR.
This is also obviously an ongoing issue with delivery vehicles too (on non-Parkside streets). Worthy of insight and new policy from the traffic studies gurus – but in the meantime, not every vendor can be allowed to scoop up money from the summer foot traffic in and around Central Park causing risk to pedestrians, bike traffic, and even car traffic safety. If there isn’t room for all, there have to be limits enforced – very messy and difficult.
This does sound like a problem, but I’m tired of hearing complaints from bicyclists who also frequently ignore the laws that apply to them as much as anyone else. I am 79 years old and have been nearly hit by cyclists while standing in the buffer zone trying to flag down a taxi. The cyclists were not in the bike lane but in the buffer zone. They frequently tear through traffic lights as well, no different from the e-bikes they carp about. The City has made massive accommodations for bicyclists, many of which inconvenience other people, but what about those of us who are past our cycling years? As pedestrians, we should have rights as well.
The buffer zones are typically better pavement than the bike lanes themselves. The green paint has manhole covers; grates, sewer grates, and in the case of CPW, uneven pavement at some intersection and subway access panels. The buffer zone is a smoother and safer ride. Also, because pedestrians consistently step off the curb without first looking, it is safer to ride just into the buffer zone so that the cyclist has more time to react to the errant pedestrian. The pedestrian stepping off the curb is often with no warning because they are walking down along the curb and it is just a simple step to the side that puts them into the bike lane. Also, by technicality, you should not be hailing a cab from the buffer zone because pedestrians are not supposed to be in either the bike lane or the buffer zone. The tan painted areas, which are pedestrian sidewalk extensions, are the only places you should be hailing a cab. But not in the white crosshatching.
So you are justifying breaking the law because the bike lanes you wanted aren’t good enough for you . . . . . . .got it.
Except it is not breaking the law. The law states that a person riding a bike must ride in the bike lane unless passing another cyclist or if it is unsafe to do so. So, these are instances where it is unsafe to do so and so fully within the law. I think you missed the point of my post.
Bravo to those who complain of bike riders who ignore traffic lights and constantly endanger pedestrians. They just don’t give a damn! Wish they could be given tickets frequently. Never happens in nyc .
There needs to be a legal path for Ice Cream Trucks to have a licensed, safe spot to park in, just as there is for carts and other trucks and other vendors. Ice cream from a truck in the summer is a delight, but not at the cost of a biker or a pedestrian (and/or ice-cream lover) being mowed down because of an illegal, unsafe, pirated parking. Personally, I will not buy ice cream from a truck that’s parked in an unsafe place. It sends the wrong message. It puts children in danger. I would not be party to it. I applaud this article and the ‘crusader’ for raising awareness to this.
Why should an ice cream trucks have more rights than other vehicles to park somewhere to do business? I’m sure plenty of people would like to set up shop in the street. Not only Fresh Direct.
An additional unpleasant & unhealthy & I believe unlawful issue with ice cream trucks are the revolting diesel fumes spewing out the back of them–probably powering refrigeration. Let’s poison the kids while they wait to get ice cream!
YES! I’ve experienced this vendor’s parking spot first hand. It’s incredibly dangerous for pedestrians–and loads of excited little kids–as well as cyclists. To be safe, we (cyclists) need to swing out into traffic to avoid hitting pedestrians.
For cyclists, another challenge is (mostly) delivery people traveling in the WRONG direction, who also swerve into traffic to avoid hitting pedestrians. For cyclists minding the one-way, northbound rules, it’s impossible to see ongoing bikes illegally traveling southbound, when circling around the truck.
It’s a terrifying. highly populated intersection
Problems compounded by many pedestrians whose eyes glued on c-phones and ears plugged by earphones obliviously stepping into bike lanes with disregards.
Why aren’t the police reading this blog and doing something about this? How difficult would that be? Not difficult at all.
it says clearly that the police actively refuse to do anything more than issue a summons, and its hard enough to get them to do even that. the guy running the truck says outright “the cops came three times today and i’m still here, what are you going to do about it?”
sanitation, which is supposed to manage the vendors should revoke the licenses.
i am 99% sure that most of these trucks are not licensed (they are not posted on the truck) and there is also no letter grades. which why can dept of health do something them?
I would never buy an item from an idling truck emitting fumes all day. Please go away!
The “Ice Cream Truck” situation is up and down CPW and draws pedestrians to the bike lane. It’s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt. The police don’t seem to care about anyone parking illegally but if you sell a churro in the subway you are kicked out. Paper lic plates on illegal cars, not a problem
Right on, Sir Crusader! I feel equally endangered and infuriated. It is unacceptable that the ice cream trucks are in the same illegal spot every day.
The avid biker is irate about Mr Softee breaking laws…
We don’t care
The worst offenders are the lawless ebikes, mopeds and cyclists who blow through red lights and endanger pedestrians
NYC, as a whole, is tired of these bike lane whiners
You clearly came to comment instead of reading the article. New York Ice Cream is the most lawless of the trucks, FYI. I commute with an ebike, along with getting groceries and doing errands. I do agree that mopeds are out of control. However, the safety of cyclists who want to ‘ride by the rules’ is still important. It’s the (lawless/thoughtless) people and infrastructure to blame/address not the mode of transportation they use, we all deserve to be safe.
I’m not a biker, yet this situation is troubling. It is unsafe for customers and bikers and folks trying to cross the street. I’m not a biker and although it is a problem that needs to be resolved, I’m tired of people whining about bikers breaking traffic rules. But it has to be said and I realize that. Both complaints are valid.
There’s an ice cream truck that parks just north of Lincoln Center on 66th Street and routinely blocks the very busy crosswalk there. It’s worst on weekends, when it’s a particularly heavily trafficked intersection. It’s a very dangerous situation. I have complained via 311 but have received no response.
That ice cream truck has been there for years – but it usually is in several feet and does not typically block the cross walk.
You are mistaken: it almost always blocks the crosswalk. I have photos taken over months to document this, with dates. I live just north of that intersection and work just south of it, including on weekends, so I deal with it all the time. That ice cream truck blocks the crosswalk.
Not to mention: gas burning stinky, massively toxic and polluting fumes that occupy what little fresh air there might be at the w73rd street end of the #1 subway station. uck. Begone, please…
This sort of thing is exactly why we have the problem of ebikes/scooters on the sidewalk, NYPD needs to actually do their jobs enforcing the rules that are already in the books instead of shrugging their shoulders.
In lieu of that, DOT needs to physically protect the bike lanes so trucks are unable to block them.
And that’s not the worst of it. Consider
their product ice cream is loaded with chemicals etc. Not a healthy product
they are selling to children!
AND the exhaust fumes are terrible snd
wonder why the EPA isn’t monitoring these
trucks. Altogether the City should remove
these trucks snd not doing so puts the public
at risk on several levels
That is totally beside the point. Same products and more, laden with chemicals, are sold in every supermarket
New York Ice Cream is also very corrupt and has / is defrauding the city by illegally transferring their ice cream trucks away from the shell company that defaulted on the parking tickets to a new shell entity, so the city has nothing to collect. The city sued them in 2019 for $4.5M in unpaid parking tickets, and the litigation is still ongoing over four years later…
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=aG9FJU/6B5s59bFMPVRUOw==&display=all&courtType=New%20York%20County%20Supreme%20Court&resultsPageNum=1
Wow…long bad history with this vendor!
Lots of complaints here about both the trucks and the bikes but does anyone have a solution? Central Park is full of kids in the summer so ice cream trucks want to be near and the families want them there. Because the bike lane is right off the sidewalk there is no safe place for an ice cream truck to park. Even if they got a legal parking spot it would mean people, many children, standing in the bike lane to get their cone.
Suppose we had lots of mom & pop “ices” vendors, using the small carts that take up far less space, and are more flexible for parking sites, instead of diesel-fueled, huge ice cream trucks? The refreshing ices, while nonnutritious, are not made with the cow-hooves gelatin and similar ingredients in the ice cream.
Brandon, There are loads of solutions.
1. Ticket the trucks till they move to a legal and safe spot. The kids have many vendors within the park to get ice cream. The vendors inside the park have to bid for very expensive concession licenses which help pay for park maintenance. These trucks pay nothing and degrade the city with substantial air and noise pollution.
2. As mentioned above, there are unused car entrances at 66th, 72nd, 77th, 85th, 90th and 96th Streets where space could be made to park a truck without endangering cyclists or kids waiting.
This is a great solution, but the ice cream company won’t go for it. The reason they are parked on the street at CPW is because they would need a license from the Parks Dept to park inside the park on those locations you stated. But the ice cream company would have to pay for those licenses which they do not want to do. So instead they park where they are, getting the park customers but not paying the park fee. And to save this money, they are putting people’s safety at risk. But their profits are higher.
There is no unused entrance at 66th St. There is the transverse road. At 67th there is the entrance to Tavern on the Green which is used by cabs and Ubers dropping off and picking up passengers.
The ice cream in the park is a different tyoe. You may prefer it or not care either way but there is no soft serve available from the carts in the park. Ticketing the trucks may make them move but doesn’t solve the problem that you can’t get soft serve. Using the unused park entrances sounds like a good idea if CP and the police (or whoever has to sign off) agree.
seriously cause you cannot get soft serve icecream in the park people’s lives need to be put at risk? this has to be a joke.
I didn’t read comments yet, nor did I finish the article. I’m just itching to ask: Why the heck can’t.a person on a bike just slide off it and walk for a minute, to get past the truck?
Something they need to be ready to do when using that bike lane since the busses have to be in the bike lane to load/unload.
When a bus is in the bus stop, there is room for cyclists to pass the bus safely and at speed.
@Phoebe – if cyclists should just slide off and walk for a few minutes in vehicular travel lanes designed and designated for them, then that means that drivers should slide out and push their cars for a few minutes if an area is crowded with jaywalkers. Same concept.
One issue that has not yet been addressed—the extremely loud noise these trucks create. I am referring here to the compromised safety of individuals crossing the street. The trucks are ALMOST ALWAYS parked adjacent to street crossings. This makes it impossible for blind or visually impaired individuals to hear the sound of traffic when they try to cross streets safely. Why can’t they be required to park a certain distance further down the block? This would fix that problem!
The sound of traffic for the visually impaired is a serious issue that needs to be addressedregardless of ice cream trucks. Teslasand other electric cars as well as eBikes and e-mopeds are basically silent.
Good point!
This is a treacherous situation. I’m an avid cyclist who does loops in Central Park everyday. When I exit on 72nd St. I encounter the ice cream truck blocking the bike lane forcing me to ride into traffic. I’ve had near encounters with cars and pedestrians who decide to blindly step back into the bike lane or walk out in front of the truck. One day I tapped a woman who did just that and it’s a good thing I’m on high alert and have disc brakes that stop on a dime…..or the situation could have been much worse. And my beloved bike could have been damaged! Anyone who’s a cyclist knows that feeling. If the crusader wants an ally I will be happy to join him on his crusade.
So let’s see – unregistered, uninsured with unlicensed drivers are allowed to operate in the bike lanes, on the sidewalks, the wrong way on one way streets, through red lights, without headlights at night etc, etc. and we want to get rid of the ice cream man during the summer. When they invented bike lanes they should have done a bit more thinking. Yes, legitimate bike riders who obey the rules should have a place to ride safely. But ice cream vendors who cater mostly to little kids could use a safe place also. Maybe the ice cream trucks should stop right on the double yellow line dividing north and southbound traffic. Or maybe when kids are lining up to get an ice cream cone people on bikes should stop pedaling, get off their bikes and walk their bikes until it’s safe to get back in the bike lane. Little kids who line up for ice cream are pedestrians and pedestrians still get the right of way wherever they are.
JHB
Sorry, but ice cream trucks and kids wanting ice cream are not entitled to be a protected class if others’ safety is compromised. And I really don’t want to hear that cyclists aren’t entitled to have bike lanes because of the lack of adherence to laws and regulations by some cyclists. That’s what enforcement is supposed to manage.
Cyclist’s love to complain almost as much as they love braking the LAW. Until we ban bicycles from our city nobody will be safe and we are all at risk of being KILLED or seriously injured by scofflaw cyclists. NYPD needs to stop waisting time on ice cream trucks and focus on putting cyclists behind bars to keep the city safe.
Leave the poor icecream trucks alone. These stupid bike lanes that barely any bikes use have made it impossible to get out of a taxi, cross the street with kids, get an ice cream, get off the bus safely, etc. and still you have to walk with your head on a swivel to cross the street because the bikes come from every direction and ignore the lights. Let’s worry about that “anonymous” coward who will keep complaining but never say their name. How easy for you to try to wreck someone’s business behind your anonymity. Let the police do their jobs already. This city is falling apart.
You get it’s not just about the cyclist, right? The day I was watching the 81st & CPW ( early post, I mistakenly wrote 86) truck, he was parked half way through the cross walk. Cars taking the right onto CPW couldn’t see around the corner. It’s despicable the picking and choosing who gets to follow laws and who doesn’t. NYC is one best cities for tourist. For us living here, it so out of control. Breaks my heart.
Exactly! Every year cyclists kill and injure hundreds of innocent NYers not to mention scaring away all the tourists. It’s time for this woke terrorism to end. NYPD needs to grow some balls and SEND EM TO RIKERS. No bail for these coward cyclists that threaten our beloved city!
If barely any bikes use the bike lanes, then why are they the big problem you claim? Ice cream trucks are not that important either.
Boo. Let the kids have their ice cream. The cyclists are worst. Many a time have my kids narrowly escaped collisions w/a cyclist ignoring the rules on the UWS. So far, no run ins with Mr Softee.
If the bike lanes are blocked, bikers are likely to ride on the sidewalk. That may not be right, but it is reality. The city has to choose whether bikers are on the sidewalk or the street. I vote for the street.
Well athletic children can probably broad jump over the bike lane so they can reach a double parked ice cream truck. But the poor people who use walkers, canes or wheel chairs I guess they get run over by the bike because jumping doesn’t work for them.
Howard-
Please note that the addition of a bike lane has made things more difficult and dangerous for bus riders.
CPW is not a protected bike lane. Busses pull into it at busstops. Cabs pull into it to discharge passengers onto the sidewalk. We should only have bike lanes on the one way avenues where this isn’ta problem because you can have bike lane on one side and busseson the other.
It’s a no-stopping zone, it is point of fact illegal for the cabbies to be doing this. Would be illegal for a private non-city bus to do the same (except for the special non-MTA bus layover areas near AMNH.)
And was exactly the sort of maneuver that killed Madison Lyden and helped prompt elimination of the parking on the east side of the avenue to improve cycling conditions.
Conditions need to be improved more with better, harder protection.
Madison Lyden was killed before the CPW bike lane existed. Nobody was illegally stopping in it. She was killed by a drunk garbage truck driver. Please don’t use her death to further your narrative.
there was a bike lane, it was not protected, but there was a lane.
A sad story.
Also she was a tourist and unfamiliar with NYC.
you should not have to die riding a bike cause you were unfamiliar with a city
deegee,
nor should anyone one die just walking around NYC – whether attacked by a violent person or hit by a falling tree limb or hit by a bicycle….
Wrong, there was a bike lane on CPW prior to the current design, but on the road side adjacent to a parking lane, a”door zone” lane. Wrong, there was a TLC driver obstructing the lane prompting Madison to try to go around him. Yes, the impact that killed her was from a truck driver not on a truck route who had empty beer cans in the passenger compartment, but this was far from the only contributing factor. (Not a garbage truck iirc, a delivery truck.)
And Madison’s death is absolutely relevant when discussing continued problems on CPW, similar in nature, that could absolutely lead to another similar and similarly senseless death!
She was killed when she had to swerve out of the class 2 painted bike lane that was there for decades before the present class 1 protected bike lane was installed. However, as Matt H pointed out, the conditions would be the same in this case. Madison Lyden was forced to swerve from a bike lane into the motor vehicle lane because a cab driver was blocking the bike lane. Here a cyclist is forced to swerve into the motor vehicle lane because the ice cream truck is blocking the bike lane. Same issue even though the bike lanes look different.
Besides the dangers mentioned in the article. None of these ice cream trucks have prices post on the side of the truck! Buyer be warned!
If you go above 96th away from the Park you can still find a cone for $3.50. I think they are $5-7 near the Park or in the 60s/70s. Not that it’s a major issue!!
It seems anything less than a felony is “law-obedience-optional.”
The trucks sell soft ice cream, which we used to call custard. There is also regular ice cream– ice cream pops, cups, etc. It seems to me that if the trucks were not selling custard, they could use dry ice to keep their product frozen. This would eliminate the noise and pollution of the truck’s machinery.
Ice cream trucks often have their butts aimed at the crosswalk. So while you’re waiting to cross the street, you have no choice but to inhale their exhaust. Aren’t there enough eating places in the city, bodegas, etc. — where kids can get ice cream. I really resent that I have to inhale the exhaust from the trucks. AND FROM THE POPCORN TRUCKS — shooting their GMO corn smell down my lungs. Can’t we have more TREES instead of more everything else. Trees are the true unconditional love machines.
Strangely, the bicycle lobby Transportation Alternatives which is fervently against cars (except Uber and e-commerce) is very supportive of food trucks and food carts (transported by cars) .
Interesting….
But ya cyclist act like there is a bike lane everywhere and for the most part you guys don’t even use it ya be in the street cutting cars on
2. When you guys are in the bike lane westher the truck is there or not your bike lane contains a crosswalk for pedestrians to walk across either way your suppose to stop but no ya think ya cars and wanna fly down the lane and then hit people who have the light to walk
Cyclists versus soft ice cream vendors? Easy choice. Vanilla cone with sprinkles please.
They dominate W 72nd St and CPW all the time now. Either parking in the bus stop on W 72nd in front of the Dakota or in the crosswalk of the park entrance or blocking the bike lane. Not sure why they get impunity from tickets whereas any driver who remotely parks wrong gets a ticket asap.
Worst part is they are a scam. Most have no prices listed. They park in spots with heavy tourist action and try to get what they can get from naive tourists. I kicked down on a hot day for my kids last year as they wanted milkshakes. We got two and if I recall it was $16-20. I told the guy I’m not a stupid tourist and would have never agreed to such a crazy price. He didn’t care. I fought for awhile but paid him to get him out of my life. And they were the worst milkshakes known to mankind. Milk with a half scoop of some kind of ice cream. Kids tossed them. I still see the guy peddling his crap. Ticket him. Get rid of them.
Ice cream trucks (and all vendors) are required to post prices. Call 311 or go to 311 online to file a complaint.
https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/consumers/file-complaint.page
“This offers cyclists three unappealing options: riding out into traffic; stopping until the path is clear; or just plowing right through and trying not to hit anyone.”
There’s a fourth option: Get off the bike and walk it for the few feet until you’re past the truck, then get on the bike again. Should take all of ten seconds and you’re on your way.
When a bus lane is blocked by an ice cream truck, the bus driver has three options. Pull into the regular traffic lanes, stopping until the lane is clear, or plowing right through and trying not to hit anyone. But there is a fourth option: the passengers can get off the bus and walk the few feet until they are past the truck, then get on the bus again. Should take all of ten seconds and you’re on your way.
I have a big issue with the trucks that block cross walks.
I have some issue with those that create blockages of bike lanes. I’m personally not a huge fan of the CPW bike lane so part of me wishes it just went away. But if it is there, it should probably generally be kept clear so I see the issue.
I’m not sure why there is all the complaining about the ice cream trucks blocking fire hydrants. If there is a fire and the hydrant needs to be used, the ice cream truck can be moved instantly. It isn’t like someone parking their car there and going to their home blocks away – the driver is right there and can react quickly. My building has a hydrant in front of it where everyone stops to load and unload.
So if letting ice cream trucks stand at fire hydrants with the understanding that they will move when necessary is the compromise solution, let’s do that.
A law is only as good as the enforcement “teeth” it has. If the NYPD refuses to enforce the law, or only does so occasionally, then scofflaws like these ice cream vendors will simply continue to violate them. (BTW, wince the trucks are parked, why are traffic agents not not giving out summonses on a regular basis? This would seem to right in their (bike) lane.)
And what if the vendors simply accept the summonses as a CODB?
It is time to force them to actually MOVE from places they should not be. There is no excuse for this continued danger to pedestrians and cyclists alike.
on topic what about the Amazon trucks that commandeer half a block to distribute packages? unsafe for their workers who are unprotected, packages on the street , edging into traffic causing obstacles. not to mention they are stealing public spaces when they should be renting.
We should separate out bike lanes from hydrants. It is perfectly legal to stand (operator in vehicle) at a hydrant. According to Section 4-08 of the New York City Department of Transportation Traffic Rules, no person “shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant. The rules further state that if you’re driving a vehicle, you may “stand” it alongside a fire hydrant between sunrise and sunset—that is, if you’re sitting behind the wheel, keys in the ignition, ready to immediately start the car and clear the way for access to the fire hydrant under the following circumstances:
If you hear a firetruck approaching
If a police officer, fire officer, or member of another municipal department requests that you move
We should also condemn the many others who block bike lanes. School busses, for example.
Ice Cream, you call it?
Not even close. And why people are not more curious about what they eat is baffling.
Ice cream is made from eggs, sugar, flavour (fruit or other) and milk. Why would you buy anything else, and call it ice cream?
Here’s are a few of the ingredients of ‘industrial’, roadside dispensed ‘ice cream’ (and remember, the product you buy from the sidewalk trucks has to last for months if not years in cold storage):
• Aldehyde C-17 is an inflammable liquid utilized in dyes, plastics, rubber and as a food flavoring, added to improve the flavour of sour cherry.
• Benzyl acetate is used in soaps, detergents, incense, oils, lacquers, polishes, printing inks and as a solvent in plastics and resins gives the flavour of strawberry.
• Ethyl Acetate is used as a cleansing agent for animal skin and alternative
materials. The ester could be a solvent in coatings and inks and is employed for the extraction of fatty materials throughout the food process. It gives the flavour of pineapple.
• Amyl acetate is used as a developer for oil colors. It is also a paint and lacquer solvent, and is used in the preparation of penicillin. Isoamyl
acetate is a central nervous depressant. It gives the flavor of banana.
• Butyraldehyde is a derivative of butane, used in manufacturing plasticizers, alcohols, solvents and polymers. It is also used as an oil paint solvent. It gives the flavor of almond.
• Diethyl glycol is used as a substitute for eggs. It is also used in anti-freeze and is paint solvent. In ice cream manufacture it is used as a substitute for eggs.
• Polysorbate 80 is used in ice cream to retard melting. It is linked
to bowel disorders, especially for people with colitis, and Crohn‘s disease.
Last year General Mills recalled its Häagen-Dazs Vanilla ice-cream due to the presence of toxic ethylene oxide, a chemical antibacterial agent and pesticide banned in the EU.
Take a look at the label on Alden (organic) Ice Cream sold at Fairway and Whole Foods:
Milk, Cream, Cane Sugar, Tapioca Syrup, Tapioca Starch, Vanilla Extract, Guar Gum, Soy Lecithin, Ground Vanilla Beans, Locust Bean Gum, Xantham Gum.
Unless you are concerned about GMO foods, this list sounds pretty much like food items to me. You could call it real ice cream.
Also the smell omitted from the trucks.
There is no question the trucks are parking illegally. But, then the bikers need to admit that by riding on sidewalks, going through red lights, riding the wrong way on one way streets, among so many other illegal moves, are also not acting in good faith.
I am a cyclist. I admit that cyclists riding on sidewalks, riding the wrong way, and other illegal moves are unsafe and not in good faith. I didn’t say going through a red light only because going through a red light CAN be safer for all involved, which is why places who have bike laws based on studies allow it. What is completely unsafe, and immoral, and the real issue people have with cyclists running lights is failure to yield to pedestrians with the right of way. And as a cyclist, I believe the police, and other cyclists, should crack down HARD on cyclists not yielding the right of way. As a cyclist. See, we’re not all bad 🙂
Which is more dangerous, a parked ice cream truck or those speeding bicycles and the other two-wheeled mini-motorcycles masquerading as bicycles? At 86th and CPW, the usual ice cream truck vendor who is there tells his patrons to stand on the sidewalk and not in the bike lane as he takes their order and payment. And those commenters who complain about exhaust? The ice cream trucks contribute what percentage of the air pollution in the city? And don’t get me started about the :”bicycles” in the park. It’s a race track in there most of the time. where right of way is rarely offered to the pedestrian out for a leisurely stroll.
This feels like a crazy thing to complain about. I bike in the city almost daily. Sometimes, there are things in the bike lane: MTA busses, waiters, garbage bags, ice cream trucks, delivery trucks, etc. I just use my brain and either 1) go around said intrusion if it’s safe and there isn’t a substantial amount of traffic or 2) hop off my bike and walk it 10 feet. The same way when I’m driving, if there’s a delivery truck or something double parked, I just check my mirrors and then go around it. Not a challenging concept.
Ice cream trucks are fun. Let kids (and honestly, adults like myself) have fun over the summer.
I agree with the folks who have pointed out the following: The engine that runs the entire time that an ice cream van is operating emits tons of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere, and all that the engine does is provide power to a small freezer. They are one of the greatest sources of pollution in this city and yes the noise they make does not help either
The ice cream that they sell consists mostly of high fructose corn syrup and all kinds of chemical preservatives which are highly detrimental to one’s health. Why anyone would want to purchase this product beggars belief.
Today they are back, in the same spots om 72 & 81st Streets