Ample Hills Creamery
Dining · 4+ locations · Brooklyn: Prospect Heights, Washington Ave; Manhattan: Upper West Side; Queens: Astoria
Ample Hills looks like classic indie Brooklyn ice cream, but its founders don't run it anymore. After a 2020 bankruptcy and a brief 2023 comeback, Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna were fired by their own investors — the shops now answer to that group instead.
The Big Picture
Ample Hills survived one bankruptcy only to end up controlled by the investors who backed its second act — its own founders were forced out seven months after buying the brand back. Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna built the company, lost it in a 2020 bankruptcy sale, briefly reclaimed it in 2023, then were fired by their own lead investor within the year. Its day-to-day conduct record is clean, but it now answers to that investor group and the CEO they installed, not to the people who started it.
The Dirty Details
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Company data last updated July 2026
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