'Dairy Row': Push To Rename Ice Cream-Laden Upper East Side Block

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — This winter threatens to be an especially tough one for New York's small businesses, but an Upper East Sider has an idea that he hopes could bring some much-needed foot traffic to one neighborhood block.

The draw: a staggering six shops on the west side of Second Avenue between 81st and 82nd streets serve ice cream in some form.

Jeremy Berman, a lawyer who lives about a block north, took to calling the block "Dairy Row" in conversations with his wife, but didn't go public with the nickname until a recent conversation about ice cream in the Four Freedoms Democratic Club Facebook group, of which he is a member.

"I said, you guys have got to go to Anita Gelato, it’s on Dairy Row," Berman said. "I just mentioned it offhand."

Anita, a boutique Israeli gelato shop that opened in September, is the block's anchor, Berman argued, boasting long lines and a devoted following despite having arrived during the pandemic.

Related: Anita Gelato Serves Up Sweet Scoops In Glitzy New UES Location

The other businesses are diverse: frozen yogurt purveyors 16 Handles and Pinkberry cater to a younger demographic, while Insomnia Cookies delivers ice-cream sandwiches and pints to night owls hankering for a sweet treat.

Ateaz Organic Coffee & Tea sells gelato during warm weather, and BurgerFi specializes in shakes, custards and concretes.

The neighborhood took notice. Berman's idea to rename the block was written up by Our Town, followed quickly by the New York Post over the weekend.

"Apparently my private little name for Dairy Row is a hot news item," Berman laughed. "I’m totally fine with that."

The media attention has convinced Berman to get serious about the idea. He's been in touch with the offices of City Councilmember Ben Kallos and Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright and plans to present the concept to Community Board 8, in hopes of eventually reaching the City Council, which has the power to install ceremonial street signs.

"Maybe the endgame is one of those little brown street signs under the street that says, 'Dairy Row,'" Berman mused.

In a statement, Kallos called Dairy Row "a wonderful idea that would help drive business to the neighborhood.

"I look forward to the process which will involve getting the support of the local community board's transportation committee and a vote by the full board. Just know the plan has my support," he said.

Berman thinks the designation could help sustain the shops, who are facing down a pandemic paired with a wintertime drop in demand for their frozen products.

"If my weird observation about it somehow results in some of these places surviving, then it will have been worth it," he said.