Harlem Gentrifier Wages War Against Mister Softee Jingle

Photo Credit: Chang W. Lee for the New York Times

A new Harlem resident is not happy with an ice cream man who parks and plays the truck's jingle in the evenings.

In a report from Gothamist, a woman who is only referred to by her first name Mackenzie (according to the website she "asked that we withhold her last name for fear that she be pigeonholed as an entitled white lady whining about her new neighborhood" which, too late), moved into an apartment near Central Park in the spring and initially enjoyed the area until recently, when the ice cream truck arrived in May.

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According to Mackenzie, the Mister Softee truck driver usually parks in one of three spots between 7:45 and 9 p.m., and when out of sight of police officers plays the music so loud that she can hear the jingle in her apartment from a block away. Ultimately, this led to an encounter between Mackenzie and the Mister Softee employee.

"I went down and said to him, 'Would you mind turning off the music?'" she recalled. "He looked at me and he was like, 'What are you talking about?'"

She responded, "I said, 'It’s illegal for you to have your music on anyway, so could you please turn it off?"

His response: "Fuck off."

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Following that, Mackenzie has attempted to turn off the music by repeatedly calling her local precinct and 311, as well as emailing the Mayor's Office, ice cream truck owners, and the office of Rep. Adriano Espaillat. However, the responses have not been in Mackenzie's favor; three different officers from the local precinct even told her that they "did not have time for this."

Other local residents could care less about the ice cream jingle playing in the evenings.

"They moved to Harlem, and that's what the f**k happens in Harlem," Carolyn Graham, a 55-year-old resident, said. "They need to go somewhere else if they don't like it."

Regardless, Mackenzie is undeterred, maintaining her stance against the truck driver and its jingle.

"What he's doing is against the law," she said. "I'm not lobbying to change the law. I just want him to stop doing that. I can't imagine in a million years that anyone likes this music."

Source: gothamist.com