The third East Coast outpost of a long-running, family-owned soft serve shop, Astoria’s Marvel Frozen Dairy is the Long Island answer to Carvel. Founded in 1951, the shop is known for its wide range of cream, yogurt, and vegan soft serves, Marvel’s rendition is the perfect American boardwalk soft serve: light, marshmallowy, and designed to be eaten quickly with its signature “bonnet” shell.

Several bubble tea shops now offer soft serve and boba, but one of the best versions is found at Xing Fu Tang. The Taiwanese tea chain combines swirled, slightly sweet soft serve with hot brown sugar boba for a dessert that feels like an upside-down hot fudge sundae. There are locations in Flushing, the East Village, and Hudson Yards.

Seed + Mill, a halva vendor in Chelsea Market, makes a one-of-a-kind vegan soft serve sundae. It’s made with an oat milk base, and each cup is drizzled with tahini and topped with chunks of imported halva for a dessert that’s nutty, gooey, and not too sweet.

Like Leo in Williamsburg, L’Industrie is a pizzeria that has become known for its soft-serve gelato. The flavors — peach, pistachio, grape, and more — change often, and two are available at a time: They can be ordered separately or swirled together with olive oil and sea salt on top. L’Industrie has locations in Williamsburg and the West Village.

An Alphabet City landmark since 1974, Ray’s Candy Store is a must-visit for its wide array of desserts. Chief among the sweets is Ray’s ice cream truck-style soft serve, with classic flavors ranging from chocolate vanilla twist to strawberry and pistachio. Each is great with a side of Belgian fries or beignets, and it’s worth the price of admission to have a moment with owner Ray Alvarez.

Soho slice shop Upside serves soft serve at a separate kiosk, Soft Side, as well as from a machine inside of its pizzeria in Greenpoint. Load up on pies and then cool down with something sweet. Flavors include strawberry, pistachio, chocolate, and vanilla, two of which may be combined in a single swirl. Toppings range from rainbow sprinkles to ground-up Oreos, and milkshakes are also available.

Morgenstern’s converted its original ice cream parlor into a vegan soft-serve spot with a bright yellow facade where everything is dairy-free. Flavors include banana caramel, salted peanut, popcorn, and prickly punch. Shakes called busters are provided, and also mix-ins featuring things like pineapple and graham teddies.

Subtle is not an option at this shop, where the joy is in choosing from the staggering menu of cereals, toppings, and mix-ins to blend in with vanilla or cookie dough soft serve flavors. The Chinatown-based Milk & Cream is also worth visiting for its off-the-wall collaborations and experiments, like a green Reptar ice cream bar in conjunction with Rugrats or an ice cream nugget with First We Feast. For the uninitiated, try the Apple Jacks Avalanche, a perfect homage to childhood memories.

A South Asian-rooted ice cream shop in Cobble Hill, Malai offers two rotating soft serve options — both dairy-free — that draw on regional flavors like pistachio, masala chai, and saffron. Malai’s soft serve offerings provide a wholly original spin on the classic American treat and are a great companion to their excellent ice cream menu.