Big Gay Ice Cream Shop Served $4M NYC Lawsuit

NEW YORK CITY — The soft-serve Big Gay Ice Cream chain is the subject of a hardball $4 million lawsuit by one of its founders.

Douglas Quint filed a suit in Manhattan court last week that accuses a business partner, Jon Chapski, of mismanaging the once-successful company and defrauding the government out of nearly $300,000 in loans during the pandemic.

Chapski and his company Edible Assets not only cut off Quint from decisions at the company, but caused most of Big Gay Ice Creams' locations to melt away, the lawsuit contends.

"As a result of Edible’s and Chapski’s mismanagement of the Company’s finances and failure to pay rents due, the Company’s various locations have been forced to close and/or been evicted, and money judgments have been entered against the various entities and Quint personally," the lawsuit states.

Chapski couldn't be reached for comment and Big Gay Ice Cream representatives didn't return Patch's request for comment.

The lawsuit paints an unhappy portrait of behind-the-scenes recent workings at a company founded by Quint and Bryan Petroff to be inclusive and "keep the fun in ice cream."

Quint contends that Chapski, who entered an operating agreement with the company in 2013, gradually wrested complete control of Big Gay Ice Cream over the years, the lawsuit states.

The suit details a spate of accusations against Chapski, from failing to pay at least four landlords who started eviction proceedings to fraudulently taking government loans.

The company is now down to a single store on the Upper West Side after its shops, including its West Village location, closed.

Chapski "unilaterally entered into several contracts without the consent of his fellow members including but not limited to selling the Company’s Upper West Side store location, entering into intellectual property licensing agreements, opening and closing a kiosk in Madison Square Garden, opening a Company TriBeCa location and engaging in recipe development all without the authorization of the remaining members of the Company," the lawsuit states.

Quint now works for a Walgreens in his Maine hometown, the New York Times reported. Petroff, who works in human resources for a New York restaurant chain, told the Times he declined to be a party to the suit because of the cost, but gave Quint his full support.

They hope the lawsuit will help them regain control of Big Gay Ice Cream without Chapski, the Times reported.

The suit aims to collect at least $4 million in damages for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.