Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
Molinaro trashes 5 Boroughs Ice Cream Company for marketing ‘Staten Island Landfill’ flavor
B.P. will call for boycott on website, urge Island grocers not to carry product
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today called on Staten Islanders to boycott 5 Boroughs Ice Cream, which is marketing a flavor called “Staten Island Landfill,” and will urge grocers not to carry the product in their stores.
The Astoria-based company markets city-themed ice cream pints such as “South Bronx Cha Cha Chocolate,” “Bay Ridge Amaretto Amore,” “Jackson Heights Mangodesh,” Upper East Side Rich White Vanilla,” “Astoria Bakla-Wha?!,” and “Staten Island Landfill.”
In a letter to founders Scott and Kim Myles, Molinaro wrote, “I am outraged and disgusted that you would name your Staten-Island-themed ice cream ‘Landfill.’ I am hard-pressed to think of a more insulting and derogatory attack in the name of consumerism.
“This stereotyping of our community is as ignorant as it is hurtful,” Molinaro continued. “Even the most basic research effort would easily reveal the positive qualities that truly define our community. We are consistently named the greenest, cleanest, and safest Borough in New York City.
“The world-famous Staten Island Ferry is probably a more well-known Borough icon than the landfill ever was,” Molinaro continued. “How about ‘Ferry Berry’ for a flavor? It sounds much more appetizing than ‘Landfill.’ Whoever in your marketing department thought that associating ‘ice cream’ with ‘landfill’ was a good idea should be fired.
“Clearly you don’t know Staten Island, and Staten Island does not wish to know you,” Molinaro concluded. “I will post a message on my office’s website urging residents to boycott your product, and I will write Island grocers asking them not to carry your product in their stores. Cheap shots at our home will not be tolerated.”
Read Borough President Molinaro's letter to 5 Boroughs Ice Cream Company
June 8, 2007