Oceanside icon toppled by storm

The nor'easter that blew through Oceanside and Island Park this month knocked out power, tore fences from the ground, and toppled massive trees and utility poles. Heavy wind and rain also took down a beloved Oceanside icon – the large plastic and aluminum Carvel ice cream cone that has stood by the store on Long Beach Road for more than 50 years.

Last week, the cone that had once stood proudly atop a pole next to the store lay shattered in the parking lot, its aluminum base dented and still wrapped around the pole. Half of the plastic vanilla swirl on top of the cone was missing, completely torn from the sign by the wind.

With the original destroyed, store owner Charlie Mattina said he is trying to find a replacement, but fears the company no longer makes the iconic signs. “Unfortunately, that's going to be a lost icon in Oceanside,” Mattina said. “These cones were from when Tom Carvel owned the company.” Mattina said he would reach out the company anyway, and, failing that, try to find a manufacturer who could perhaps emulate the design.

Frank Nicolicchia, who owned the Carvel before Mattina, said the cone was erected along with the original store in 1953. At that time, he said, the store was an old-fashioned drive-in, and the cone lit up and played music to attract customers. Nicolicchia said it was a unique sign that was quite attractive in its heyday, especially compared to the more uniform signs used today. “It was a symbol of Carvel,” he said. Nicholicchia was saddened to see the cone on the ground last week. “It was a very good cone,” he said. “It lasted for 67 years.”

Nicolicchia owned the store from 1972 to 1992. Mattina took over after he retired, and by that time, he said, the cone no longer lit up or played music, although customers would often ask if he could repair it. So Mattina installed new blue and white bulbs on the sign, and dug a trench under the parking lot so he could run wires to the store to power it. “I've never seen so many people so into a sign in my life,” he said, adding that in the seventeen years he has owned the store, people have always asked about the sign. “They love it,” he said. “I definitely want to get something to replace it.”

For many in the community, the sign was a relic of childhood, and brought back fond memories. “Carvel has been a fixture in Oceanside for as long as I can remember,” said Jeff Toback, former Nassau County legislator. He remembers riding his bike to the store with friends, and stopping for ice cream after little league games. Seeing the cone, he said, brought back those childhood memories. “I hope that they are planning to replace it,” he said. “It was a symbol of my childhood.”

Sheryl Glick remembered stopping at the Carvel with her children on the way home from the beach during the summer. They would see the cone, she said, and always make her stop. Glick said she was grateful no one was seriously hurt when the storm hit the South Shore. She was also optimistic about the future of the sign.

“Carvel and that cone represent the pleasures of life and joy, even amid catastrophe,” she said. “They can't really be destroyed, only changed and transformed for the better.”

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