The sun was beating down on Sunset Park, on the field you can see a group of children playing soccer, with their backpacks serving as goal posts and nothing but their love of the game to regulate it. Not too far away is a mother packing up a picnic blanket while her husband begins to place their infant boy into his car seat. Meanwhile, their little girl begins to bolt off down the park’s walkway to catch up to Melinda Suarez, the ice woman.
Dawned in a pair of capris pants and a t-shirt covered with an apron, she scoops up a bundle of ice and shoves it into a paper cone, packing it to form a nice round shape. She then picks up a big blue bottle and begins to pour sweet syrup onto the cone, causing the white ice to metamorphose into a blue ball of sugary delight. She smiles under her red visor as she hands the dessert to the eager little girl.
During the warm warm weekend afternoons, Mrs. Suarez’s ice cart serves as an oasis for occupants of Sunset Park as she hands out chilled flavored ices to those in need. She pushes her mobile cart down the pathways around the park and waits for young children to flock around her. Children quickly rush to their parents to get a dollar bill, then they make a B-line for the ice cart. People are always eager to have a delicious and refreshing ice when the temperatures are at a low of 75 degrees Fahrenheit. One child mentioned that he “love[s] ices when it’s hot outside,” and that his favorite flavor is “cherry.”
Mrs. Suarez has been selling ices for over 8 years. She usually works as a nanny throughout the year, but during the hot summer months she lugs her cart to popular areas to provide a nice cool snack for fatigued pedestrians and sugar-happy children. She is a Mexican immigrant that arrived to the United States with her husband in 1998. For the first couple of years, she was a housewife that tended her newborn children. She got the idea to run a cart after speaking to someone who used to do what she does. Now, she runs an ice cart to pass the time when she doesn’t have any work baby-sitting. The business venture makes okay money according to her, which is fine since the main breadwinner in the family is her husband who works in construction.
When Mrs. Suarez first started, she would come to the park with her two daughters and watch them play while she would sell ices to nearby park visitors. Being able to spend time with the girls and make money at the same time was like a dream for Mrs. Suarez. However, now that they’re older, in high school, they don’t like to play outside as much. “They just play on their phones now” exclaimed Mrs. Suarez, who now goes on her ice-capades alone.
Even though her own children outgrew the desire to play in the park, she enjoys seeing all the little kids playing around in the park. Although the weather can be really rough at times, she said she gotten used to it. Plus, she’s willing to bear the heat for her job that lets her be outside and interact with others in the neighborhood. She can always be caught socializing in Spanish with parents visiting the park with their children. She sees it as a nice way of giving back to the community.
Her ice cart isn’t exclusive to Sunset Park however, sometimes she sets up shop on the streets of 4th and 5th ave to catch the influx of kids walking home from school. Mrs. Suarez exclaims she “goes where the people are,” and wherever she goes, she makes sure to bring the ice.
