March 20–26, 2020 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 3
Ice cream dream in jeopardy
Ample Hills’ Gowanus location features a popular
roof deck, and flavor inspired by the notorious
Brooklyn
Heights
Gowanus
Prospect Park
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By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
Cycling is more than just
a mode of transportation or
a pastime for one Williamsburg
woman, who has taken
it upon herself to bike every
block in the borough by Sept.
1 — all while documenting
Kings County’s vast expanse
and diverse architecture.
“I felt like I was going the
same places all the time when
I went biking, so I decided I
would just bike every block
so I would have new places
to go,” said Jacqueline Van-
By Meaghan
McGoldrick
Brooklyn Paper
As businesses across the
city struggle to stay afloat
amid the spread of the novel
coronavirus, Brooklyn-based
ice cream purveyor Ample
Hills Creamery has filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In a statement, the popular
ice cream parlor said the filing
was not brought on by the
current COVID-19 pandemic,
rather it was done so that the
business could “course correct.”
“We are taking the necessary
next steps to preserve
and ultimately bring Ample
Hills into its next phase. In
order to do this, we are filing
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
which allows us to restructure
and refocus,” a spokesperson
said. “We have learned
a lot from our growth and
this is a strategic decision
that allows us to course correct
and continue doing what
we love most: creating a delicious
product from scratch,
in our beloved Brooklyn
home.”
While the company did not
expand on its so-called “next
Williamsburg woman wants to bike every block in the borough
Dusen, who, since starting her
project in 2017, has pedaled
more than 3,500 miles.
The cyclist has been chronicling
her progress on her Instagram
page, Brooklynbybike,
where some 6,800 people follow
along with her journey.
There, she documents her
expeditions with pictures of
buildings in the neighborhoods
she visits — all the
while showcasing the architectural
best of Kings County,
she said.
“When people come to
Brooklyn, they mostly go to
places like Brooklyn Heights,
Park Slope, or Dumbo, and
you see these same types of
architecture — the classic
brownstone. They don’t expect
that it changes anywhere
else,” she said.
Some of her favorite discoveries
have included the deserted
runways of Floyd Bennett
Field, and the unique and
ostentatious waterfront palaces
in Mill Basin, said the
biker.
“There’s these quirky mansions
and pockets of really
weird architecture,” Van-
Dusen said. “That was the
biggest eye-opener, how diverse
and weird it gets.”
She’s even managed to
gain access to Brooklyn’s
handful of gated enclaves,
including the Navy Yard in
Fort Greene, Seagate near Coney
Island, and a gated culde
sac off Strickland Avenue
in Mill Basin.
And on top of merely sightseeing,
she’s also visited about
1,800 bars and restaurants
along the way.
“When I’m in a neighborhood,
I want to eat there and
find out where that local bar
is,” VanDusen said.
Her least-favorite spot to
bike is Dumbo, because of the
hordes of tourists taking selfies
in the middle of the bumpy
Belgian Block streets.
“I absolutely hate it,” she
said. “There’s also just not
that many things I want to
take pictures of there.”
VanDusen said she has become
more conscious of the
dangers of biking in Brooklyn,
where motorists hit and
killed 19 cyclists in 2019 —
more than in any other borough.
“I’ve been incredibly
lucky,” she said. “Statistically,
I should have been hit
by now.”
Though she bikes much
more defensively today,
VanDusen says there needs
to be more awareness of bikers
among drivers and pedestrians,
and that the city needs
to install more bright green
protected bike lanes — a color
she’s adopted for the logos on
her social media.
“People stand in bike lanes.
I’ve yelled at dozens of people
for standing in them and
people just don’t know to look
for bikes,” she said.
VanDusen is still figuring
out what her next project
could be after she’s finished
covering Brooklyn.
She has no interest in biking
and photographing Manhattan
or Queens, she said,
but she might do something
similar in her native Philadelphia,
and has already secured
the Instagram handle
Phillybybike.
“I am considering Philadelphia
if I move there,” she
said. “I have the account just
in case.”
Jacqueline VanDusen wants to bike every block in Brooklyn by Sept. 1.
Photo by Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn scoop shop Ample Hills fi les for bankruptcy
phase,” the rep said that Ample
Hills stores remain open
— for now.
“This decision was not
brought on by the current
COVID-19 pandemic and we
nearby canal.
are following all guidelines
as outlined by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
and the New York
City Department of Health
to ensure the safety of our
Amployees and customers.
With that in mind, we remain
open for takeout per the current
guidelines.”
Brian Smith and Jackie
Cuscuna — a married couple
from Brooklyn — opened
Ample Hills’ first brick-andmortar
shop in Prospect
Heights in 2011 after starting
as a pushcart. The scoop
shop now has 14 locations in
the New York City area —
six of them in its home borough
of Brooklyn — as well
as two Florida outposts.
The creamery is known
for its fun and innovative flavors,
such as “It Came From
Gowanus” — a loaded chocolate
ice cream “full of surprises,”
just like the polluted
waterway.
Ample Hills’ bankruptcy
filing follows in the footsteps
of the closure of its Los Angeles
location in January, and
in those of Fairway Market,
which recently filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy as well.
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