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As for many businesses, Midtown Manhattan is the big leagues for ice cream trucks, with streets full of sweet-toothed tourists willing to pay New York City prices for cones.

But parking in Midtown is nearly nonexistent, so the ice cream trucks routinely pull into illegal spots and then rack up countless tickets.

On Wednesday, the city launched a major crackdown, towing away dozens of trucks and accusing their owners of owing $4.5 million in fines for roughly 22,500 unpaid parking and traffic violations.

The striking spectacle left a steamy Midtown in a temporary ice cream freeze-out and marked a new chapter in the city’s rich history of crackdowns over coveted Manhattan street-vending spots.