Ice Cream Factory in Former Fireboat Station

The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is an ice cream shop at a converted 1922 fireboat house at 1 Water Street, on the Fulton Ferry Landing Pier in Brooklyn, New York City, in the Dumbo neighborhood near the Brooklyn Bridge.The ice cream shop was opened by owner Mark Thompson in 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks. It sits near the Brooklyn Bridge in a landmark fireboat house on a ferry landing, the oldest in Brooklyn. In the past, firefighters from the nearby marine fireboat station used the building for firefighting practice sessions.All of its ice cream, and its hot fudge, is freshly made. The ice cream is old-fashioned, with less butterfat than some competitors, and made without eggs. The ice cream is made in small batches of eight flavors (including chocolate, vanilla, butter pecan, and strawberry). No preservatives are used. An article in The New York Times described the ice creams as 'creamy, ethereally light and perfectly balanced. They practically float into your mouth and leave no heavy film on your palate.' The restaurant serves large portions, and also offers banana splits, sundaes, and shakes. The Clinton St. Baking Company & Restaurant on the Lower East Side used ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory in some of its desserts. In June 2006, Patrick Bertoletti, a 20-year-old Chicago culinary student, set the 8-minute ice-cream competitive eating record by eating 1.75 gallons of vanilla ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, winning $2,000 in the process. New York City for Dummies called its ice cream 'the best ice cream in New York', as did The Sun Times and Frommer's New York City 2011. Former Bronx borough president Fernando Ferrer is partial to the restaurant's French vanilla ice cream.

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