NYC's ice cream museum is sued by a man who says he broke his ankle jumping into the sprinkle pool

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who says he broke his ankle jumping into the sprinkle pool at the Museum of Ice Cream in New York City has filed a lawsuit alleging that the facility was negligent for not warning visitors that it is unsafe to jump into the sprinkle pool.

Plaintiff Jeremy Shorr says in his lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court in Manhattan that he visited the museum in SoHo with his daughter on March 31, 2023, and suffered “severe and permanent personal injuries” when he jumped into the sprinkle pool, a ball-pit-like installation full of oversized plastic sprinkles.

Shorr says in the lawsuit that the Museum of Ice Cream, which has four locations in the U.S., encourages patrons to jump into the sprinkle pool through its advertising and promotional materials, “creating the reasonable — but false — expectation that the Sprinkle Pool is fit and safe for that activity.”

A museum spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Shorr’s lawsuit cites a 2019 post on the museum’s Instagram account that shows the sprinkle pool and asks prospective customers if they are “ready to jump in.”

The website of the museum, which offers ice cream-themed installations and all-you-can-eat ice cream, encourages visitors to “Dive into fun with our iconic sprinkle pool!” It shows photos of children and adults playing in the pool, which appears to be about ankle depth.

Shorr says his sprinkle pool encounter left him with injuries that required surgery and may require future surgeries as well as physical therapy and diagnostic testing. He is seeking unspecified damages to cover his medical and legal expenses.