Top photo from Feb. 17 by Derek Berg
Storefront renovations got underway at 48 1/2 E. Seventh St. a few weeks ago — activity that prompted several reader questions about whether Van Leeuwen Ice Cream had closed. (There weren't any notices posted on the plywood at the time.)
Now there's signage outside noting a temporary closure for renovations here just east of Second Avenue...
In an Instagram Story over the weekend, Ben Van Leeuwen said they're redoing the façade and restoring it to how it looked 50 years ago.
"We're not changing any of the materials, which I'm so happy about," he said.
He called the Seventh Street shop a "very nostalgic place" for him and his co-founders, Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O'Neill — it was the brand's first Manhattan outpost ... and years before the brand's expansion to 50-plus locations and grocery-store distribution.
The East Village shop, which opened in the spring of 2011, is expected to be back scooping in about two weeks.

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