CT Ice Cream Shop, Restaurant Drained In Legal Battle With Town

BROOKLYN, CT — The community is rallying to help save a Brooklyn ice cream shop and restaurant, which have faced a protracted legal battle with the town.

Supporters of the Ice Box and Sütő organized a protest Monday afternoon.

"The goal of the protest is to pressure the Town of Brooklyn, the town Lawyer and the insurance company to pay out a settlement to the Nemeths," a Facebook event page reads. "We will be gathering on the strip of land that runs between Route 6 and South Main St. we encourage you to make signs or shirts to show your support. This is a peaceful, family friendly event to show our leadership how much we love the Ice Box and the Nemeth family."

The owners, the Nemeths, have been wrapped up in lawsuits with the town for nearly two years. Legal fees running over $100,000 have put the future of their two businesses on South Main Street in jeopardy, NBC Connecticut reported.

The disagreement began over the usage of the property's driveway, which is shared with the East Brooklyn Fire Department. The Nemeths said that the issues began when they were making upgrades to the Sütő property. A suit was filed regarding parking on the property, NBC Connecticut reported.

About two years after the suit was filed, it was dropped last month.

Jenn Nemeth told NBC Connecticut that the financial burden due to an injunction was "just unbelievable."

The owners said in a Facebook post that they have been "asking for this to be over for years, before it even started, in fact." They said it's an "incredibly stressful situation right now."

"This isn’t a time for anger and accusations," the owners wrote. "That’s not who we are as a family or as a business. We want to fix this, move on, and sell lots of ice cream for years to come. This week is about activism and action. That’s what we need from our community now."

The post garnered 467 reactions, 39 comments, and 230 shares.