‘Van Leeuwen’ to Open LES Artisanal Ice Cream Shop on Ludlow Street Next Month

July 2016
It’s been over a year since the music died at 172 Ludlow Street. That’s when Ludlow Guitars decamped from the Lower East Side after spending seventeen years on the block. Now its former Hell Square headquarters – where the business had moved in 2010 – is to become a trendy ice cream parlor.
Artisanal ice creamer Van Leeuwen recently signed a lease on the space, making Ludlow Street the seventh location in the stable, not counting their truck brigade. And according to recent job listings, the new creamery will open sometime in October.
Meanwhile, interior build-out is well underway.
The choice of 172 Ludlow Street is curious given its proximity – mere paces – to gelato stalwart il Laboratorio del Gelato. Not to mention the shakes from Black Tap just across the street. Let the ice cream wars begin.