Retired NYPD Cop Moves to L.A., Becomes Mr. Softy, Builds a Fleet of Ice Cream Trucks to Cool Down Los Angeles

Admit it. When you were a kid, you wanted to play that sweet soft music and selling ice cream just as sweet and soft.

Now you can fulfill your childhood fantasy and own an ice cream truck. A retired New York Police Department cop became an ice cream vendor. Now he is selling off the remaining three ice cream trucks he built.

"I'm a retired police officer," said ice cream man Mike Musancry. "I came here 20 years ago and there were no ice cream trucks anymore in California. So I built five trucks, one at a time. In recent years I sold 3, now I have three trucks left. The three trucks I sold are in Los Angeles," serving ice cream to the community.

"Look at our website. Our pricing is on there to rent our trucks. We have three trucks left, I'm trying to sell the trucks or the business," says Mike

"I'm retired NYPD. I was a cop in 1984, left in 2005, obviously born in NYC. I'm from the Bronx."

"When I moved out here 20 years ago it was all drug dealers in ice cream trucks and there were no Mr. Softee trucks. I wanted to do Mr. Softee in a truck, but it was complicated due to health department regulations. So a Mr. Softee truck had to be redesigned," he said.

I love to hear the sound of ice cream truck music in the neighborhood again, said one local mom, buying ice cream for her daughter.

So what's special about the All American Softy?

"My ice cream trucks sell low calorie products. Everyone likes soft serve ice cream. It puts a smile on people's faces. As opposed to talking to cops, which don't put a smile on people's faces," noted Musancry.

"I love to hear the sound of ice cream truck music in the neighborhood again," said one local mom, buying ice cream for her daughter. Alex is an ice cream truck driver who works for Musancry and American Softy. He says he loves to see people smile when he hands them a soft serve ice cream cone.

For more information on how you can rent a truck, or even buy one, go to https://allamericanSofty.com/

History of Ice Cream

TrucksIce cream trucks trace their origins to the early 20th century in the United States. One of the earliest known predecessors was Harry Burt of Youngstown, Ohio, who in 1920 invented the Good Humor bar-a chocolate-coated ice cream treat on a stick-and began selling them from a fleet of white trucks equipped with bells to attract customers. By the 1920s and 1930s, vendors used horse-drawn carts or motorized vehicles to peddle ice cream in urban neighborhoods, often playing chimes or music to signal their arrival.

The modern ice cream truck boom occurred after World War II, with companies like Good Humor and Mr. Softee (founded in 1956 in Philadelphia by brothers William and James Conway) standardizing the model: refrigerated trucks stocked with pre-packaged novelties and soft serve, roaming residential streets during summer months. Mr. Softee, in particular, became iconic for its jingle-playing trucks and soft serve cones, expanding nationwide through franchising. Today, ice cream trucks operate under strict local health and vending permits, requiring features like handwashing sinks, refrigeration units, and waste disposal systems to ensure food safety.