Eats
I-CE-NY ice cream shop is rollin’
BY GABE HERMAN
A lot of local ice cream shops
boast that their fl avors are locally
made, but I-CE-NY actually
makes its ice cream from scratch
right in front of you in the shop. It’s
hard to get more local than that.
The company started in Thailand,
where it expanded to 30 locations
in just its fi rst six months. In 2015,
founder Kajitsa Premwimol decided to
expand to America, and the fi rst shop
in the States opened at 101 MacDougal
St. The shop is still there, on the busy
block between Bleecker and W. Third.
Business continues to boom, and
the company now has more than 250
locations in Asia, and more than 20
in America in all parts of the country,
from Florida to Colorado to Michigan.
The MacDougal St. spot is small and
can get crowded, but it’s worth any wait
to see the ice cream being made. It’s
prepared near the counter area on big
metal plates that reach temperatures as
low as 15 degrees below zero.
First, an ice cream base is poured out
onto the plate, and other ingredients are
then added in based on fl avor options,
like Rose Lychee, Mango Sticky Rice,
Strawberry Cheesecake and S’mores.
Custom orders can also be made, with
a choice from 20 mix-in ingredients
and more than 30 toppings.
Metal paddles are used to quickly
chop up the ingredients and mash them
together, to be spread into a thin layer.
In minutes, the ice cream fi rms up
with the ingredients mixed in. It’s then
scraped into rolls and served in cups.
Despite the unique appearance of being
served in rolls, the end result is a
great and familiar ice cream taste, very
creamy and with a thin, smooth texture.
That, along with the fun of watching
how it’s made, make it easy to see
why the company is thriving.
More information can be found at
icenyicecream.com.
New urban farm grows at Essex Crossing
BY GABE HERMAN
Talk about a green roof!
Well, actually, it’s a little bit
orange and red, too.
Carrots, beets, baby kale and more
are now being farmed on a rooftop
deck on the Lower East Side at the new
Essex Crossing development.
The Essex Crossing Farm, which
opened July 31, is one quarter-acre,
located on the sixth-fl oor deck of The
Essex, at 125 Essex St., one of the nine
sites of the development, which has
been opening in stages.
Produce from the farm will go to a
stand at the Market Line, a 150,000-
square-foot marketplace that will open
later this summer and resemble a bazaar,
offering a wide range of foods and
other goods.
The new elevated farm is being run
by the local nonprofi t Project EATS,
which operates 10 other urban farms
across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens
and the Bronx. This one at Essex Crossing
is the largest organic farm on Manhattan
Island, and second largest in
the borough after the Randall’s Island
Farm.
Linda Bryant, founder and president
of the nonprofi t, said the Downtown
urban farm is a great opportunity.
“Project EATS is extremely grateful
for the opportunity Delancey Street Associates
is giving us to work with and
support this richly diverse, resourceful
In the foreground, chocolate ice cream with strawberry, raspberry,
brownies and chocolate sauce.
The Essex Crossing Farm, above, is a one-quarter-acre space in the
new L.E.S. development.
and resilient community on the Lower
East Side,” she said.
The items being grown, to be sold at
the Farmacy stand in the Market Line,
include root vegetables, like turnips,
carrots, beets and radishes, along with
baby greens, like arugula, mustards
PHOTO BY I_CE_NY/INSTAGRAM
COURTESY DELANCEY STREET ASSOCIATES
and baby kale.
For now, until the Market Line stand
opens, the Farmacy is selling produce
in the new Essex Crossing Park, at
Clinton and Broome Sts., on Wednesdays
and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m.
Project EATS will also run several
programs at the Essex farm, including
classes and after-school programs for
public school students about the role of
healthy foods and nutrition.
In addition, senior residents at Essex
Crossing and in L.E.S. more broadly,
will get free breakfast on Saturdays
this year. The program will expand to
families with children next year.
Also, students at Seward Park High
School campus will have the chance
to get jobs through the Essex farm in
agricultural and community health
training. Plus, there will be a public art
project at the farm, called “Up On the
Roof.”
One of the Essex Crossing developers,
L + M Development Partners, has
previously worked with Project EATS
at a farm in Brownsville, Brooklyn,
which yields more than 10,000 pounds
of produce every season.
“As we know well from our work in
Brownsville with Project EATS,” said
Debbie Kenyon, L + M vice chairperson
and senior partner, “we couldn’t possibly
fi nd an operator more dedicated not
simply to creating a great farm, but to
engaging with the community on many
levels — from education, to senior programming,
to workforce development,
to health and wellness.
We’re looking forward to welcoming
the L.E.S. community to the farm and
providing fresh produce for the neighborhood
in the Market Line.”
Schneps Media TVG August 8, 2019 21
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