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Partners: The married co-founders of Ample
Hills — Jackie Cuscuna and Brian Smith —
recently opened their 15th ice cream shop in the
historic fireboat house in Dumbo. Liz Clayman
Fulton dairy
Ample Hills Creamery opens at Fulton Ferry Landing
COURIER LIFE, J 24-7 UNE 28-JULY 4, 2019 41
By Aidan Graham They’ve got the scoop on local history!
The latest branch of a Brooklyn
ice cream chain uses its historic location and
delicious sweets to uncover the rich history
of the borough. Ample Hills Creamery, now
open at Fulton Ferry Landing in Dumbo,
serves a creamy dessert inspired by the
favorite foods of the Bard of Brooklyn, said
the scoop shop’s founder.
“Two of Whitman’s favorite foods
were coffee cakes and donuts, so we took
those and added them to ice cream, and
made a new flavor,” said Brian Smith.
“It’s not the same recipes he used, but it’s
close enough.”
The new shop, the 15th operated by the
chain, debuted on June 13 with the flavor
“I Contain Breakfast Foods” — a play on
Walt Whitman’s famous line “I contain
multitudes.”
The Ample Hills ice cream chain takes
its name from a line in Whitman’s classic
poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” and
often cooks up flavors that evoke stories
close to the hearts of Smith and his wife
and co-founder Jackie Cuscuna.
“We try to think creatively about how
to tell stories through ice cream,” said
Smith. “We really have fun creating a
story and then making an ice cream to
tell that story.”
The ice cream maestro said he had to
double down on the Whitman symbolism
for the new location, which occupies a
historic fireboat house at the same Fulton
Ferry Landing where the famed wordsmith
found inspiration for the poem that
inspired the name of the ice creamery.
“We have a signature flavor in every
location,” said Smith. “It’s one of the ways
we’re able to tell the story of that location,
and that particular neighborhood.”
The Ferry Landing was home to the
first mass-transport system bridging Kings
County and Manhattan, and during the
19th Century, the advent of the steamboat
allowed for speedier travel, leading to massive
development in Brooklyn as a suburb
of its densely populated neighbor.
“That spot transformed modern
Brooklyn,” said Smith. “The birth of
Brooklyn can be traced to this spot.”
The founders also have their own special
history with the location, which was previously
occupied by the Brooklyn Ice Cream
Factory, according to Smith.
“We had ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice
Cream Factory the night before we got
married. It’s an important place to us,” he
said. “It’s like coming home to be in that
building.”
Ample Hills Creamery at the Fulton
Ferry Landing 1 Water St. at Old Fulton
Street in Dumbo, (718) 874–2483, www.
amplehills.com. Open Fri–Sun; 10 a.m.–
midnight; Mon–Thu; 11 a.m.–11 p.m.
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