Winter Wonderland in Prospect Park: A Day of Snow, Sleds, and Hot Chocolate

In the heart of Brooklyn, as Winter Storm Fern blanketed the city with up to 12 inches of snow, Prospect Park transformed into a magical winter playground. Families from across Park Slope and surrounding neighborhoods flocked to the park’s snow-covered hills, embracing the most substantial snowfall New York City had experienced since 2021. Among the crowds of sledders, snowball fighters, and winter enthusiasts, two enterprising 13-year-olds found opportunity in the frosty weather, setting up a makeshift hot chocolate stand that became an unexpected highlight of the day.

“Get your hot chocolate! Hottest chocolate in all of Park Slope!” shouted Aaron Rappaport from atop a popular sledding hill. Together with his friend Ted Driscoll, these young entrepreneurs had pivoted from their usual winter business of shoveling stoops to serving warm beverages to chilly parkgoers. “We have five orders for stoops already, but we can’t start shoveling until the snow slows down a bit, so we figured we could do this while we waited,” Aaron explained, showcasing the resourcefulness that defines New York’s youngest business minds. Ted, who had courageously lugged a folding table through the snow, slush, and sleet, added that they were prepared to sell up to thirty cups at $3 each. Their small enterprise quickly became popular, especially with families like the Facklers, whose four-year-old daughter Talia raced from her sled at the first mention of hot chocolate, while her mother Hannah, 38, settled the bill through Venmo – a perfect intersection of old-fashioned winter traditions and modern technology.

The park had become a vibrant social hub, where familiar faces from neighborhood schools came together outside classroom walls. Parents Tait Foster and his friend Artis organized impromptu sled races between their four-year-old daughters, Georgia and Annabelle, creating the kind of childhood memories that define winter in New York. “Most of these kids go to school together, and they’ll be out here all day. I’ll have to drag Georgia out of here,” Foster remarked, subtly acknowledging his regret at not having worn thermal underwear in the biting cold. For many families, the weather presented a welcome opportunity to connect with neighbors and friends in a setting far removed from their typical daily routines. Park Slope mother Stacey Gomez expressed the sentiment shared by many parents as she anticipated a snow day for her children who attend private school: “I would be annoyed and really upset if my kids didn’t get a snow day tomorrow. It’s hard on working parents… But this is just heaven.” Her words captured the duality many parents feel – the logistical challenges a snow day presents juxtaposed against the irreplaceable joy it brings.

Not everyone shared the same enthusiasm for trudging through the snow, however. Gaby Marraro, a 30-year-old software engineer and Brooklyn mother, revealed that her 10- and 14-year-old children had opted to remain indoors, perhaps representing the changing relationship between adolescents and outdoor winter activities in an era of digital entertainment. However, the refusal to participate didn’t extend to her dog Goose, who exemplified the unbridled joy many four-legged park visitors displayed that day. “I don’t think I could have kept this dog out of the park today,” Marraro observed, gesturing to the surrounding scene. “Look around — it’s a dog wonderland, everyone is happy to be here today! This is a fantastic winter wonderland.” Indeed, the park had become as much a canine paradise as a children’s playground, with dogs of all sizes bounding through snow drifts, catching snowballs, and exhibiting a kind of pure happiness that reminded their human companions of the simple pleasures winter can bring.

The diversity of approaches to winter weather was on full display throughout the park. Some visitors, like James Ekenstedt and his fiancée Anna Stratton-Brook, had meticulously prepared for the elements, outfitting their 7-year-old Chihuahua mix Mika with boots and a coat to protect the small dog from the cold. “The snow is very fluffy and, yeah, it’s just kind of perfect,” Ekenstedt remarked, though Stratton-Brook was quick to add, “Except for the wind! The wind is really tough.” Their careful preparation for their pet contrasted sharply with the approach taken by Adam Perez, a 32-year-old software engineer from Crown Heights, who arrived at the park wearing shorts despite the bone-chilling temperatures. Accompanied by his girlfriend Annie Huryk, an art therapist, Perez explained his unusual winter attire with casual nonchalance: “Yeah, this is just me. I never wear pants unless it’s like someone’s wedding.” His defiance of conventional winter wisdom represented yet another facet of New York City’s eclectic character – a place where individuality thrives even in the most extreme weather conditions.

As the snow continued to fall throughout the day, Prospect Park became more than just a public space – it transformed into a living tableau of community, entrepreneurship, and the enduring appeal of snow days. From the young hot chocolate vendors making their first foray into seasonal business, to parents reliving childhood sledding memories through their children, to the various ways people and their pets adapted to or defied the cold, the park encapsulated Brooklyn’s spirit of resilience and joy. With the city’s public schools planning remote learning for Monday and private institutions likely to declare proper snow days, the park offered a momentary escape from everyday concerns. In this temporary winter wonderland, strangers became companions on the sledding hill, neighbors reconnected over steaming cups of hot chocolate, and the usual boundaries of urban life dissolved in the face of nature’s transformative power. For one snowy Sunday in Brooklyn, Winter Storm Fern had created not just a weather event, but a shared experience that would remain in community memory long after the snow had melted.