Park Slope Parents Agitate for an Ice Cream Freeze-Out

April 3, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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Prepare for a massive brain freeze. In a story posted on April 1 that raises and then dashes a reader’s hopes that he or she is the victim of a good-humored prank, the New York Post reports that a vocal faction of Park Slope parents is urging for a ban on an alleged playground-dwelling wolf in sheep’s clothing: the Prospect Park ice cream vendor.

Fed up with privation-induced temper tantrums and what they see as predatory sales tactics, parents have taken to online message boards to seed an effort to push back against local pushcarts.

“Along with the first truly beautiful day of the year, my son and I had our first ruined day at the playground,” writes a woman named Sarah on the online parenting group Park Slope Parents, according to the New York Post.

“Two different people came into the actual playground with ice cream/Italian ice pushcarts. I was able to avoid it for a little while but eventually I left with a crying 4-year-old.”

Another poster, identified as Dorothy Scanlan according to the Post, added her grievances in solidarity: “I should not have to fight with my children every warm day on the playground just so someone can make a living! I too was at the 9th Street Playground on Monday, and one of the vendors just handed my 4-year-old an ice cream cone. I was furious.”

Not every parent in the Slope supports an ice cream man ban. A mother who spoke to the Post anonymously for fear of diverting fury didn’t think the problem was the frozen treat vendors: “People just need to say no. I say no to [my son] all the time, and I feel his wrath. But he needs to hear that no.”

–Eli Mackinnon