This Is No Softee

Lest you assume Mister Softee trucks are only about small-time drug deals or that they’re merely a convenient spot from which pedophiles can operate, know that there is also a dark side to the business:

An ice-cream truck driver and two cohorts gave a Good Humor operator in Queens more than just a cold shoulder when they threatened to put his business on ice, authorities said yesterday.

George Peralta, 27, and his accomplices penned in Ernesto Valverde, 50, by parking an ice-cream truck in front of and another behind Valverde’s vehicle in Elmhurst Tuesday, police sources said.

Peralta, along with Andy Arevalo, 23, and an unidentified man, then took Valverde’s keys and gave a chilling threat, “Stay off [our] route. We know where you live. We know where you parked the truck,” according to a criminal complaint.

Update: Mister Softee Vice President Jim Conway writes in to set the record straight:

The article you referenced in the NY Post is factually incorrect. Ronald Baretela is not a Mister Softee franchisee and the trucks in question are not Mister Softee trucks.

Additionally, we are troubled by your disparaging remarks in regards to our franchisees. In the twelve years I have been in the management of Mister Softee no franchisee has been accused of either selling drugs or improper conduct towards children. Your comments are both false and offensive.

The overwhelming majority of our franchisees are married men and women with families. These people are classic small business people who work hard to provide for their families.

Spending up to 10 or 12 hours a day selling ice cream on the streets of NYC is a difficult and often trying job. To belittle these good people with unsubstantiated myths is irresponsible.

Fair enough! Satirical glibness aside, of course I didn’t mean to say that I necessarily assumed that Mister Softee trucks sold drugs of any kind or that ice cream truck drivers in general are anything less than model citizens, just that, you know, some may have that perception is all . . .

See Also: Mister Softee.

Another Day, Another Violent-Sounding Willets Point Pronouncement

The other day it was “a battle”. Today, it’s “mopping up”:

Bloomberg noted that planning for redeveloping Willets Point had begun with the advent of the 1964 World’s Fair and is now becoming reality some 45 years later. With more than 65 percent of the land area now owned by the city, “Willets Point is a mopping up operation that’s up to the private sector now,” Bloomberg added.

Interesting metaphor. More mopping:

The city will formally kick off plans to seize control of the remaining privately owned land at Willets Point this month, an announcement that left shocked property owners scrambling for legal help and prompted questions as well as criticism from borough elected officials.

The city Economic Development Corp. said a public hearing on eminent domain would be held at Flushing Town Hall June 22, a procedural first step in the legal process through which the city plans to take the remaining 22 acres of land at Willets Point.

Property owners at Willets Point said representatives from Cornerstone Realty Group, a firm hired by the city to assist in business relocation in the area, canvassed the Iron Triangle last week informing people that the city intended to begin eminent domain proceedings and a letter would arrive Thursday detailing the process.

Jerry Antonacci, co-owner of Crown Container Co. and president of Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain, said he was miffed that city officials did not show up to tell property owners themselves.

“I said to the guy, ‘Why are you here? Why are you telling me this? The city should be the ones telling me this,'” he said. “They’re pretty quick to pull the trigger on eminent domain. But I guess they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do and we’re gonna do what we have to do to stop them.”

He said the property owners group expects to hire a legal firm to fight the city plan within the next week. Private property owners will have 90 days to file a lawsuit after the city files a formal report on its plans, which the EDC expects to occur by early next year.

Location Scout: Iron Triangle.

Meanwhile, The Pigs Are Probably Like “Stay Way The Hell Away From Me”

It’s tough these days to be a pig in this town:

There they stood, Tabitha and Sabrina, the loneliest animals at the Queens Zoo in Flushing.

Despite the name “swine flu,” it’s extremely rare for humans to be infected by being near a pig.

But most people don’t know that, so Tabitha and Sabrina, two female hogs, were left all but ostracized yesterday, along with their Vietnamese pot-bellied pal, Barbie.

The Unintended Consequences Of Film Industry Tax Credits

It’s changing how we see the world:

Erick Pulido, 29, who lives in a condominium three buildings down, said he measured his shock over the killing with the realities of city life. “Things happen all the time, it’s a big city,” Mr. Pulido said.

Mr. Pulido said that while on his way to work on Monday morning he noticed the police swarming around Ms. Lee’s building.

“I thought they might have been filming a movie so I just left,” he said.

But Monopoly Is So Much Fun, I’d Hate To Blow The Game

You would think that two adults could stop or at least disrupt a sexual assault. And you have to assume that those odds get even better if you have three adults at the scene:

A third MTA employee failed to come to the side of a woman being raped on a Queens subway platform, an internal memo revealed.

Location Scout: 21st Street/Van Alst Station.