Ample Hills Creamery to Reopen Astoria Store Thursday
Ample Hills Creamery in Astoria (QueensPost)
July 22, 2020 By Christian Murray
Ample Hills Creamery, the popular ice cream purveyor, is reopening its Astoria store Thursday after its exit from bankruptcy.
The company is reopening two other stores tomorrow—one in Prospect Heights and the other in Chelsea. The openings represent the first steps taken by Schmitt Industries, an Oregon-based company that acquired the bankrupt creamery in June.
The creamery, founded by the husband-and-wife duo of Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna, was established in 2010 and quickly grew to operate out of 13 locations. The couple filed for bankruptcy protection in March after experiencing financial difficulties.
The couple left the company following the June sale to Schmitt Industries.
“It is with deep sadness that Brian [Smith] and I have made the painful decision to move on from Ample Hills,” wrote Jackie Cuscuna in a post on company’s Instagram page on July 6.
Ample Hills in now in the process of reopening nine locations—including the three tomorrow– in coming weeks. It will also reopen its Red Hook factory.
The company plans to rehire all 200 employees, a spokesperson for the creamery said.
The 34-02 30th Ave. location will reopen Thursday and will operate between Monday – Thursday from 1 p.m. – 8 p.m., Friday – Saturday from 1 p.m. – 10 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. – 9 p.m.
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Summer days are winding down, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still time to enjoy outdoor movies and a BBQ cookout at 31st Ave Open Street on Saturday, Aug. 23.
In Jackson Heights at 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, Roosevelt Avenue is buzzing with energy as commuters file in and out of subway cars and onto the street and cars and trucks grapple to get down the busy road. The street is filled with rows of shops and restaurants, along with food carts, street vendors and food trucks along the avenue. The almost-but-not-quite the weekend lag leaves hungry commuters faced with another choice to make throughout their day and the array of food truck options in busy areas like Jackson Heights offers customers convenience and delicious food without breaking the bank, two features that can feel vital, particularly with rising costs of living and pressure from inflation.
Elected officials in western Queens have outlined their support for the Department of Transportation’s planned protected bike lanes underneath the elevated subway tracks on 31st Street after the New York State Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction preventing the plan from going forward.
Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria and Transit District 20 are looking for a flasher who exposed himself repeatedly to a woman on board a northbound R train in Astoria on Sunday, Aug. 17.
The suspect sat across from the 34-year-old victim at around 12:50 p.m. as the subway was in the vicinity of Steinway Street and 34th Avenue and showed her his genitals multiple times, police said. The suspect zipped up and got off the train at the station and ran off on foot in an unknown direction. The woman was not injured during the encounter.
Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria are still looking for a man who allegedly weaponized his car to attack another man near Broadway and 46th Street, leaving him critically injured on the roadway nearly three weeks ago.
Community Education Council 30 (CEC 30) has called on the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to reinstate Ashley Rzonca after the union representative for Community School District 30 was dismissed from her position earlier in the year for what the CEC describes as “political” reasons.
The New York State Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction against the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) planned protected bike lane under the elevated N/W subway tracks on 31st Street following a legal challenge from a coalition of local businesses.
Overpriced, politically charged, hipster ice cream.
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