Helping Hand
Michael Cole has a sweet spot for helping the community.
Ice cream shop gives
youths a second shot
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
An East Village ice cream shop
won a $30,000 grant earlier
this month to continue its work
helping neighborhood young people.
The grant was sponsored by Squarespace
and also the New York Knicks
Make It Awards to support small businesses.
After serving a six-month prison sentence,
East Village local Michael Cole
returned to his neighborhood and,
shortly after, started selling ice cream.
In 2013, Cole opened his own shop,
Mikey Likes It Ice Cream, which trains
at-risk youth, then hires them to work
in the store.
“This business is a second chance
not only for myself but for others,” Cole
told PIX11 News. “You can have a different
past, but as long as you are focusing
on a better tomorrow, this is a
vehicle that can help you get to where
you want to go,” he added.
The ice cream shop has made headlines
before for its unique fl avor names
inspired by pop culture and music. Cole
has created custom fl avors for Hillary
Clinton and Jay-Z.
Mikey Likes It currently has two locations,
at 199 Avenue A, between 12th
and 13th Sts., in the East Village and at
2500 Frederick Douglass Boulevard in
Harlem.
adomenech@thevillager.com
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20 February 28, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
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