A group of Park Slope parents want to see a ban on the ice cream carts and trucks that patrol around Prospect Park on warm days, says the New York Post.
According to the article, a poster on the Park Slope Parents message boards described her “first ruined day” at the 9th Street playground when her four-year-old son had a meltdown after being denied a sweet treat from the ice cream and Italian ice carts nearby.
Another mom was “furious” that a vendor handed her four-year-old an ice cream cone, says the Post.
Of course, there are area moms who think the ice cream ban is a crazy idea, and that tantrums just come along with parenting.
“People just need to say no,” a parent at Prospect Park’s Harmony Playground told the Post. “I say no to him all the time, and I feel his wrath. But he needs to hear that no.”
What do you think? Should ice cream vendors be banned in the park, or should parents just tell their kids "no"? Vote in our poll before, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Your language is dehumanizing, on purpose. You want fellow readers to join you in your crusade against cyclists so you use inflammatory language to try to pit your side against, well, us. I share your frustrations! I rode into the city today on an errand and saw innumerable cyclists running red lights, salmoning, etc. But I also saw pedestrians who didn't look before stepping into the bike lanes many times, and counted just as many cars parked in bike lanes as I saw cyclists breaking their rules, so unfortunately there is room for improvement all around. Ginning up anger is simply more dangerous for everyone, especially cyclists, because they still are the most at risk (I saw a delivery guy almost get hit IN the bike lane by a Range Rover driven by a cell-phone talking woman for example) so I'm asking you nicely to tone down the rhetoric for everyone's sake. On my ride this morning I tried to lead by example as I stopped at lights, signaled, etc., and that's the best way I know how to spread the word about safer cycling; perhaps you'll join me for a ride some day and do the same.
selling the message of alcoholism at a young age? Parents of Park Slope buy your child an ice cream and keep them out of the bars.
More to the point though, 21 cyclists were killed by cars in NYC last year (http://bit.ly/ysgEsz); do I go around calling all drivers 'homicidal maniacs' or claim they are intent on mowing down cyclists? No! Drivers are people who drive cars; cyclists are people who ride bicycles. There are law abiding, wonderful people who drive cars (like me! like my parents and siblings and almost everyone I know outside of NY) and there are crazies, who pull uturns, clip cyclists, speed like demons, and you know the rest. If you care to join me you can sit on my balcony and watch cars, trucks, and everything in between speed through red lights on Caton Avenue one after another. The same is true for cyclists, but in your postings here all we get is 'mowing down pedestrians'. It's not accurate, it's not helpful, and it's not conducive to a constructive discussion on how to make anything better.
What I don't think you appreciate though, is what the park is like to a cyclist. You have all levels of cyclists in the park, so some are beginners and weave like crazy; some are kids. Then you have the guys training who blow by you. Then there are the joggers, who simply run anywhere because it's your job as a cyclist to avoid hitting them. They'll run against traffic, in the middle of the road, all over the bikelane, earphones in and oblivious but we cyclists work around it. There is the pinching between cars and joggers that totally sucks. People jaywalk incessantly and forget about the lakeside area in summer when toddlers roam free. But the vast, vast majority of the time everyone manages without incident. My point is riding a bike in the park is an exercise in vigilance to NOT hit people. So to come home and read that I'm a monster intent on mowing down innocents - when myself & 99% of the people I see are doing the polar opposite - is just as frustrating as it must be for you to watch scofflaws ignore the rules. I want cyclists to obey all sensible rules, but most cyclists are nothing like the monsters you call us
I would also like to take a moment to point out that I am NOT one of the NYers who seems to think that children shouldn't be allowed in restaurants or anywhere else that adults frequent. I have no problems whatsoever with kids. In fact, I generally tend to be more tolerant of them than most adults. When kids cry on the subway or accidentally walk into me because they aren't paying attention, or whatever, I let it slide. They're kids, they're learning, I wasn't perfect when I was a child either (and neither was anyone else). The people I have a problem with are parents who don't seem to be up to the job and expect the rest of us to do it for them.
When issues such a icecream truck ban are even suggested, it is obvious that we have lost ourselves in the minutia of our lives. We are addicted to the mindless fluff of life: texting, Facebook, blogs, fashions, etc. In the absence of real, truly important issues, we elevate minutia to a station of importance.