Port Chester Group Fights Ex-Ice Cream Truck Selling Cigarettes
PORT CHESTER, N.Y. (WCBS 880) - An old ice cream truck parked at the side of a Sonoco gas station at the border of Port Chester and Connecticut has many residents smoking mad.
WCBS 880's Catherine Cioffi: The Ice Cream Truck Will Be Replaced
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The truck no longer plays that beloved jingle and is stripped of its colorful stickers displaying everyone's favorite warm weather treats.
Instead of selling soft serve ice cream dipped in sprinkles this truck sells cigarettes at Connecticut prices.
New York smokers are saving but some Port Chester parents are fuming.
"Clearly children have an affinity towards ice cream trucks," says Council of Community Services Executive Director Daniel Lipka. "It's clearly not what we want our kids to be seeing."
"Our issue is really about the influence that tobacco and alcohol have on this community especially on young people and that certainly isn't the message that we want our community to be about," Lipka said.
Meanwhile, the gas station owner tells WCBS 880 reporter Catherine Cioffi that he had no idea an old ice cream truck would cause so many problems.
"I believe it's against the law to advertise cigarettes directly to children and this taken in context is doing exactly that," Lipka said.
The Port Chester Cares Community Coalition has been looking into the dangers of putting tobacco and kid-friendly products together.
The gas station owner said he'll be replacing the truck as soon as possible.
