Mister Softee’s Trucks Are Back in NYC for 2022

"An iconic soft-serve truck operation founded in Philadelphia in the 1950s that has since become synonymous with summer in New York City; its familiar chimes and roving trucks are treated as a seasonal ritual. Menus center on soft‑serve swirls — shakes, sundaes, cherry and chocolate dips, and prepackaged novelty pops — and invite off‑menu hacks, with the soft‑serve itself described as an almost engineering‑miracle. Traditionally an inexpensive treat, some vendors have recently charged as much as around $8 for a cone. The experience is as much about stumbling upon a truck on a warm afternoon as it is about the ice cream, and a mobile app provides real‑time truck locations. Personal traditions mentioned include starting the season with a strawberry shake and then favoring vanilla with rainbow sprinkles." - Jason Diamond