Gloversville license battle resumes in court

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

The battle between the city of Gloversville and Sno Kone Joe proprietor Amanda Scott crept through its second day of a hearing Tuesday with no revelations and no decision on whether she’ll get to sell ice cream from her truck this summer.

Scott, 21, is fighting in state Supreme Court to force the city to give her a vendor’s license so she can continue selling ice cream from her truck.

Sales came to a halt when city officials denied Scott a new license, shortly after she and boyfriend Joshua Malatino, 34, were charged with stalking and harassing another ice cream truck driver.

Those charges are pending in Gloversville City Court. They were based on statements from Mr. Ding-A-Ling driver Phillip Hollister, who alleged he was followed and videotaped by Scott and taunted by Malatino.

City officials — in papers submitted in court — cited 10 different instances of one or both of the Sno Kone Joe operators coming to the attention of police and requiring a police report. One of those reports dates back to July 2009, when former Mr. Ding-A-Ling driver Melissa Ryder alleged Malatino shouted out “What the [expletive] are you doing in Gloversville?” while he was in the Sno Kone Joe truck.

Instances unrelated to ice cream included Malatino being accused of threatening to kill a former landlord in August 2011 and allegedly threatening and then punching a man at a bar.

Scott in August 2012 got into an alleged confrontation with a neighbor who was awakened by the ice cream truck. Also that month, both Scott and former Mr. Ding-A-Ling driver R.J. Insogna alleged each was harassing the other.

Last week, Scott’s attorney, William Lorman, brought Devin Crocetta to the stand. Crocetta testified she saw no wrongdoing as she bought an Italian ice on Spring Street on April 28 — the date Hollister alleged harassment on the part of Scott.

Hollister told police Scott videotaped him and his child on his front lawn that day and, hours later, he said Malatino pulled up directly behind his truck on Spring Street with music very loud and shouted he had free ice cream.

Lorman, who contends the city’s decision to deny Scott a license is “arbitrary and capricious,” called Gloversville City Clerk Susan Semione and two police officers to the stand Tuesday. Semione described the process by which vendor licenses are administered and said Malatino carried paperwork to the clerk’s office to obtain a vendor’s permit both before he worked with Scott and when he worked with her.

Lorman grilled Gloversville police Officer Dennis Smith on his report, in which he said he saw a Sno Kone Joe truck “less than five feet” from the Mr. Ding-A-Ling truck driven by Hollister. Lorman wanted Smith to pinpoint precisely how many feet separated the trucks, but Smith said less than five feet was as precise as he could get.

Smith also said there were no vehicle and traffic violations — but the situation sparked the memory of a meeting he and other officials had with Malatino and Scott the year before. During that meeting, both were given warnings to avoid further problems.

Gloversville police Officer Jonathan D. Silva, under questioning by Lorman, recounted drafting a police report that led to the arrests of Scott and Malatino.

Testimony continues at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Johnstown.