A go-to treat to cool down got some Big Apple parents heated as “out of control” prices landed tabs “upwards of $60.”
“They got me good!”
Threatening to hammer another nail in the coffin of Americana, compounding hits of inflation on product, gas prices, licensing and taxes amounted to a hefty price tag for at least one ice cream truck in New York City.
Speaking with parents near Astoria Park in Queens Tuesday, the New York Post reported on the contrast between expectations and reality as one dad shelled out $26 for a small sundae and a shake float.
“I was thinking it’d cost me maybe $8,” Henry Fernandez told the newspaper. “I gave her $20, thinking I was going to get some change back, and then she told me it’s more. They got me good!”
“Some people are taking advantage of inflation,” he added.
“It’s out of control!” exclaimed an 11-year-old girl whose mom had paid $10 for a double cone.
Likewise, Alison Bruce lamented a $14 charge to procure a waffle cone for her son as the mobile shop tacked on a $0.99 fee for any non-cash payment, plus tax, to the staple in President Joe Biden’s diet.
“Once you give your kids ice cream, you’re going to take it away from them? They’re going to get pissed at you and you’re going [to] have a difficult afternoon,” she expressed. “Can you imagine a family of four getting an ice cream, and it being upwards of $60?…That’s upsetting.”
Images shared on social media depicted that the prices were listed, but appeared to be in a small font near the roof of the truck leaving customers who’d failed to ask prices before placing their order “taken off guard when it was time to pay for their kid’s frosty treats…”
NYC Queen’s parents are having a meltdown over a local ice cream truck’s astronomical prices.
Many parents were taken off guard when it was time to pay for their kid’s frosty treats as the menu prices were listed near the roof of the truck in a small font.
Not only are… pic.twitter.com/cVZNyF7krO
— Old School Eddie (@Old_SchoolEddie) June 8, 2024
North American Ice Cream Association executive director Steven Christensen contended that the experience for families at the park nestled at the water’s edge between the Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate Bridge was likely more shrewd business practices than a trend for similar enterprises.
“A lot of times, you’re striking while the iron is hot,” he told the Post. “You’ve got a captive audience.”
Supporting Christensen’s position, Angelina Piro, an employee of the ice cream truck in question argued in defense of the prices, “In the Bronx, you could get a [regular] cone for $3, but look at the area you’re in. No one is going to be there.”
According to the newspaper, NYC’s well-known Mr. Softee trucks were selling sundaes and waffle cones for $8 cash near Union Square and vendors on the Upper West Side and in Downtown Brooklyn had “identical prices.”
While Christensen acknowledged there had been price increases of 5-10% each year because of inflation, little sympathy was shared on social media as users leveled that customers reaped what they sowed at the voting booth.
NYC parents should have voted for the other guy in 2020.
— 17GEN4 (@RazeAxiom) June 8, 2024
you get what you vote for
— Meme’nOnLibs (@MemeNonLibs) June 8, 2024
Bidenomics on display. Enjoy.
— capnyak (@new_bobby) June 8, 2024
Well, you can work 3-4 part time jobs to pay for these luxuries America. Building back better is working
— Ninasdolcevida (@ninasdolcevida) June 8, 2024
Another American staple destroyed.
— Louie Fillet (@SmirkingJoseph) June 8, 2024
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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