Always get the sprinkles. Image: Author’s personal collection of Davey’s Ice Cream photographs
Going into ice cream actually started as a joke for David Yoo. After beginning a career in fashion and advertising, he decided in 2012 that it was time for a change. A few jokes later, he came to the realization that “ice cream is like blank canvas” ready for creative interpretations, and getting into the ice cream business might allow for the real hands-on creative hijinks he was searching for. So he enrolled in the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course, Class of 2013; gave his job a six-month notice; and by Friday, September 13th, Davey’s Ice Cream was open in the East Village. Late last summer, Davey’s brought their ice cream across the river to Bedford Avenue. Continue reading →
About eight years ago, Greenpointers began seeing the butter-yellow Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream trucks popping up on our streets, often with one of the owners, Laura O’Neill and brothers Pete & Ben Van Leeuwen, inside. It didn’t take long—they were approached by a Whole Foods rep literally on their first day of business back in June 2008—for the Greenpoint locals to become the next big thing in ice cream. But of course, every “next big thing” in food needs a brick-and-mortar shop, and with their hearts already in the neighborhood, the team opened up their very first ice cream shop on Manhattan & Bedford in early spring 2010. Continue reading →
OddFellows Ice Cream Co. in Williamsburg. All images via oddfellowsnyc.com
As co-founder Mohan Kumar tells it, OddFellows in Williamsburg has an origin as sweet as its ice cream.
“When Holiday was pregnant Sam [Mason] brought over ice cream, and she loved it. At the time I was looking to get out of what I was doing in real estate finance and do something more entrepreneurial, more creative,” Kumar shared. “A couple days later, she said, ‘Why don’t you talk to Sam about opening an ice cream shop?’ I said, ‘That’s a great idea.’ I approached Sam about that over a beer, I had half a business plan already written out, and that’s how it started.”Continue reading →
In 1984, President Reagan made one of his most important announcements: July officially became “National Ice Cream Month,” and the third Sunday is “National Ice Cream Day.” Yes, that is why there was a number of ice cream celebrations all over the city this weekend, including last Thursday’s “Ice Cream Battle!” at the Museum of Food and Drink (62 Bayard Street). MOFAD brought in historic gastronomist Sarah Lohman of FourPoundsFlour.com to discuss the history of ice cream and the current two most popular flavors, vanilla and chocolate. And to celebrate this remarkable holiday month here on Greenpointers, we’re going to bring you a series on our wonderful local ice cream purveyors! Continue reading →
Listen carefully tonight and you might just hear the strains of an ice cream cone fanfare echoing down Wythe Avenue.
Van Leeuwen’sflagship store in Williamsburg is having its official grand opening tomorrow, but tonight, for three glorious hours from 7pm-10pm, they will be handing out free ice cream scoops from the new store as a pre-opening treat. Continue reading →
What does gourmet ice cream and shovels have in common? Nothing really. But throw in some sand and a couple of key photo-ops with politicians and you’d be at a party thrown by none other than our new neighbor, Greenpoint Landing.
For those of you unfamiliar with the mega development Greenpoint Landing and how our former Borough President and current City Councilman Steve Levin sold Greenpoint up a polluted river two years ago for a towering gilded waterfront cage, I suggest you read here, here and here for more details.
For the rest of us who cringe each time another pile is driven into the ground for what will eventually be a long string of 40 story towers, then I beg you to read on and seethe in disgust as Greenpoint Landing held a “Ground Breaking Ceremony” complete with Van Leeuwen Ice Cream trucks and yet failed to invite the community. Continue reading →
Spring may be off to a patchy start, but ice cream season is here regardless and local producers Van Leeuwen are on a roll right now. February saw the opening of a new store in the West Village, closely followed by the relocation of their Greenpoint outlet to a newer, bigger premises on Manhattan Avenue. Now, plans are underway for a flagship store on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, due to open mid-May.
The all-natural Greenpoint ice cream company was started in 2008 by Laura O’Neill and Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen, who set out to make ice cream using the finest possible ingredients. After initially selling their wares locally from two buttermilk-yellow ice cream trucks, rapid success soon saw them opening their own brick-and-mortar stores around NYC, and even branching out to LA, where they currently operate two trucks and have new stores in the pipeline. Their upcoming Williamsburg flagship is a marker of just how rapidly their ice cream empire has grown. Continue reading →
Beloved ice cream purveyors Van Leeuwen have moved locations and will be celebrating with super cheap ice cream tomorrow!
They have moved to 620 Manhattan Avenue (only a few doors along from their former location, to just the other side of Nassau Ave) and will be selling single scoops (one per person) for a mere dollar from 1pm-2pm tomorrow, Saturday 24th.
It’s that time of year when ice cream becomes a food group, and the ice cream sandwich becomes a perfectly acceptable lunchtime choice. And it just so happens that Greenpoint currently has two particularly notable examples vying for the ice cream crown: The cheap and cheerful Peter Pan and the deluxe artisanal Van Leeuwen. In the name of essential journalistic research we pit the two against each other and bring you our verdict. Continue reading →
Fox News Interviews "Hipsters" About Their Beards (this is real life)
This week in local news…..
Raekwon showed up at a Williamsburg fried chicken restaurant to rap abut ice cream.
Building owners are cheating the system by advertising “affordable” housing on obscure government websites that no one can actually find. And the online applications are only in English, making it more difficult for non-native speakers. The most recent case is at 59 Orient Ave in Williamsburg, the past home of the Kate Winslet’s character in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind (random trivia fact to keep in your back pocket). (The Brooklyn Paper)
A guy in Williamsburg built a 1600 sq foot home out of shipping containers and other found materials at 351 Keap Street. Another shipping container condo building, albeit a fancier “luxury” one is being assembled at 2 Monitor St. (NY Times)
Would you drop $2 million for this “fisherman style” townhouse? (Curbed)
Brooklynites are taking over Berlin, one dance club at a time. (NY Times)
In 1984, President Reagan made one of his most important announcements: July officially became “National Ice Cream Month,” and the third Sunday is “National Ice Cream Day.” Yes, that is why there was a number of ice cream celebrations all over the city this weekend, including last 
