The Museum of Ice Cream’s TikTok trendy “Sprinkle Pool” is seriously lacking in filling — so much so that one visitor was left maimed after he went for a sweet splash, he claims in a new lawsuit.
The pool’s poor design and “inadequate and insufficient” level of rainbow-colored toppings left Jeremy Shorr, who visited the SoHo attraction with his daughter last March, with an ankle fracture so serious that it required surgery and internal hardware installed, according to court documents.
But the biggest issue might be how the museum presents the pool on social media, where multiple posts encourage visitors to “jump in” and “plunge,” claims the suit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“We believe this sprinkle pool poses a risk of serious personal injury to members of the public, who are encouraged to jump and plunge into it, despite these actions having caused injuries to those who have fallen victim to this viral trend,” said Shorr’s attorney, Daniel Perrone.
The attraction’s viral popularity — as evidenced by social media posts and visitors lined up half-a-block long on a rainy Wednesday evening — is part of why Perrone thinks the venue isn’t working harder to keep people from hurting themselves.
And Shorr isn’t alone. Others shared their Museum of Ice Cream mishaps on social media, where injuries in the sprinkle pool seem to prosper.
In a TikTok amassing three million views, Carlie Noelle jumped off one of the pool’s mini diving boards, only to painfully land on her tailbone in the sprinkles.
“I wasn’t expecting it to hurt so bad,” Noelle said in the post’s caption.
One commenter, who gained over 34 thousand likes, said, “You’re the 4th victim of the sprinkle pit I’ve seen.”
A different TikTok user, who goes by the name Linkorix, shared her own harrowing experience, saying that jumping into the deceptive pool of sprinkles caused her to sprain her leg, forcing her to utilize crutches.
“The ice cream factory gave us a free ticket to go back if we wanted and a gift bag,” the TikToker wrote on her video, which was cited in Shorr’s suit.
In another viral TikTok post with 11.3 million views, three teenage girls are seen falling into the sprinkle pool — one of who can be seen wincing and clutching her ankle after landing feet-first.
“I just KNOW that hurt,” said one commenter.
Doctors told Shorr that alleged injuries from his March 31, 2023 sprinkle pool plunge will likely result in future surgeries, osteoarthritis and arthritis, according to the lawsuit.
Shorr suffered “severe and permanent personal injuries” when he jumped into the pool “in the manner advertised, encouraged, marketed and promoted” by the museum, the filing states.
Perrone opined that “discouraging that activity would eliminate a key attraction.”
Unless the museum is willing to “properly calculate and determine the amount and dimensions of the sprinkles required to render the Sprinkle Pool fit and safe for jumping and/or plunging,” the pool area should be festooned with ample and abundant warnings, he added.
The Museum of Ice Cream declined to comment, but a source with knowledge of the museum said that there are already ample warnings — and guests have to sign a release before entering.
That release is contrary to local New York law, the suit claims.
Visitors leaving the popular museum told The Post that they didn’t see any sort of warning signs in the pool.
“I didn’t notice any signs,” said one guest exiting into the rain on Wednesday, who declined to share her name. She said she jumped in anyways.
“It’s soft — I jumped in,” she said. “It’s mostly for kids.”
