Everyone is amazed at the price!
Parents in Queens are outraged by a local ice cream truck’s exorbitant prices, including $14 for a waffle cone.
On a scorching Tuesday afternoon, unsuspecting parents were tipping their wallets over to buy double-digit priced frosty treats from a bubblegum-pink New York Ice Cream truck set up near an Astoria park.
“I gave them $20 thinking I’d get change back and they said they had more! They scammed me!” cried Henry Fernandez, who had paid $26 to buy his two kids small sundaes and shaken floats after playing soccer at the park.
“Some people are taking advantage of inflation,” Fernandez added.
“I thought it would probably cost about $8.”
Many customers complained that they didn’t realize they were being ripped off until the sweets were in their children’s hands, because the prices were posted in small print near the roof of the truck.
“If you give your kid ice cream, are you going to take it away? He’s going to be mad and you’re going to have a hard afternoon,” said Allison Bruce, who bought her 11-year-old son a waffle cone for $14.
“Can you imagine a family of four buying ice cream and it costs over $60? … That’s infuriating.”
Other ice cream trucks in New York have increased their prices amid raging inflation, but customers haven’t been as shocked by the price hikes.
In Union Square, two men at Mister Softee’s were selling waffle cones and sundaes for $8 cash or $9 tax-included if you paid by credit card.
Also, the price was clearly displayed next to the product image.
Ice cream stores in Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Upper West Side charged the same prices.
Even young people are finding out their parents are being duped by Astoria dealers.
“This is out of hand!” cried Isabella Diaz, 11, whose mother had paid $10 for a double ice cream cone.
Steven Christensen, executive director of the North American Ice Cream Association, said the $14 price tag for a waffle cone was likely the result of pure opportunism.
“In many cases, you should strike while the iron is hot,” he said.
“You’re captivating the audience.”
Christensen added that ice cream trucks and shops have been raising prices by 5 to 10 percent annually in recent years due to rising labor, ingredient and gasoline costs.
The pricier Astoria Park truck also offers other prices, including $5 for a cake cone (but only if you pay by cash), $10 for a double cone, $12 for a sundae or shake and $14 for a float, with a 99-cent fee plus tax added to credit card and digital payments.
Angelina Pirro, a 19-year-old truck driver, acknowledged that the rates were “not completely perfect,” but justified her employer’s high fees as a result of inflation and high local pricing.
“In the Bronx, [regular] “You can buy a cone for $3, but look at the area you’re in. No one’s going to come,” she said.
A representative for New York Ice Cream did not respond to a request for comment.
