A lawsuit filed this week alleges that a man was severely injured at the Museum of Ice Cream’s sprinkle pool in Manhattan because the venue “fails to warn visitors of the danger” of jumping in.
The state suit claims that the SoHo venue created the “reasonable — but false” expectation that jumping in the pool is safe through its marketing, including social media posts asking people if they’re ready to “jump in.”
According to the lawsuit, plaintiff Jeremy Shorr did just that during a March visit with his daughter to the self-described “experium,” which features a series of interactive rooms celebrating ice cream.
It alleges the venue failed to make the pool deep enough and calculate the proper amount and dimensions of the faux-“sprinkles,” so the plunge left him with “severe and permanent personal injuries to his right leg, ankle, and other body parts.”
The lawsuit doesn’t specify the pool’s depth, but pictures on the museum’s website and social media from its various locations, including Singapore, show adults and children standing with sprinkles reaching their ankles or lower legs.
One post on the museum’s Instagram page includes a voiceover saying “this went a lot better in my head,” where a person jumps off a “diving board” alongside a sprinkle pool, bounces as she hits the “sprinkles” and then faceplants into them. The museum’s marketing materials show adults and children alike using the pools.
A spokesperson for the museum declined to comment.
The lawsuit claims the museum is aware of the alleged danger, citing a Daily Mail article from 2021 with the headline “Well, that bombed! Woman falls flat on her face when she cannonballs into a pool of giant sprinkles.” It also references a video posted on TikTok on Aug. 12 of last year documenting a leg injury sustained by a visitor who jumped in a sprinkle pool and sprained her “leg pretty badly,” and “ended up in crutches.”
Images of the sprinkle pool on the museum’s website show the “diving boards” on several sides of the pool, as well as a slide that leads into it.
Other materials on the museum’s site don’t appear to address the depth of the pools, or whether they’re appropriate for all visitors. An FAQ stresses it’s regularly cleaned, “ ensuring a fresh and clean experience with every jump,” and the site’s “health and safety” page says only that guests are free to swim in the sprinkle pool at their leisure.
When Gothamist searched “sprinkle pool” on TikTok, “sprinkle pool fails” was one of the top recommended searches. The results show several videos showing people jumping into the pool and landing flatly on the sprinkles, including one posted by ESPN with the caption “That didn’t go as planned.”
According to the suit, Shorr has been unable to engage in the same daily activities since his injury, and anticipates needing surgery.
It’s not the first time the sprinkle pools have upset people. In 2018, they made headlines when officials in Miami and San Francisco complained that plastics from the venue were littering their cities.
Shorr is seeking damages from the facility for his injuries.