Gas station rips ice cream ads from cigarette truck

GREENWICH -- Those aren't candy cigarettes being sold from a former ice cream truck parked on the New York-Connecticut border. A gas station's creative solution to the recent New York state tax increase on cigarettes recently sparked controversy when it began using a truck decorated with fading stickers of frozen treats to sell packs of Camels and Newports at lower Connecticut prices. The convenience store of the Sunoco gas station at 780 W. Putnam Ave. is in Port Chester, N.Y., while the pumps are in Greenwich. The truck, which has been parked there for a few months, is legally allowed to sell packs of cigarettes for between $6 and $7.50, while they can cost up to $10 at stores in New York. "The first week it was there, there were little kids running up to it thinking it was an ice cream truck," said Bob Taylor, a resident of the Byram section who often buys cigarettes from the truck. Faruk Iqbal, who works at the Sunoco station, said after a couple of TV news crews visited and featured the truck on broadcasts, he decided to rip down the Choco Taco and Creamsicle advertisements. "We realized we probably did the wrong thing," Iqbal said.